Murder of Iryna Farion. Zinchenko's preventive measure extended until April 24.

On Wednesday, February 26, a hearing in the case of the murder of Iryna Farion took place in the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv. The defendant, Vyacheslav Zinchenko, had his preventive measure extended - detention without the right to bail until April 24. This is reported by 'Hromadskyi' citing Suspilne.

Before the hearing, Vyacheslav Zinchenko was brought to the courthouse. He also spoke with journalists. Zinchenko said he has the opportunity to communicate with his father for 15 minutes once a week. He also added that he feels safe after enhanced security measures, including wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet.

'At this moment, I feel safe; during the court session, I am not worried about anything,' Zinchenko said. The defendant also spoke with his mother before the hearing.

The prosecutor filed a motion to extend the preventive measure for Vyacheslav Zinchenko for 60 days without the right to bail.

'The detention term for the defendant Zinchenko expires on March 4, 2025, while the criminal proceedings are in the evidence-gathering stage. It is impossible to complete the court hearings by that date for objective reasons, considering the volume of materials to be examined. Therefore, I have filed a motion to extend the preventive measure in the form of detention,' said Prosecutor Dmytro Petlyovanyi.

According to him, if the preventive measure is changed or not extended, the defendant may not appear in court.

'This risk is confirmed by the fact that Zinchenko does not have a permanent residence in Lviv or Lviv Oblast; before his arrest, he was registered and lived in Dnipro. Ensuring his proper procedural behavior, considering that the court hearings are taking place in Lviv, by using a less strict preventive measure is impossible,' the prosecutor said.

Instead, the defendant's lawyer requested to change the preventive measure to round-the-clock house arrest with an electronic bracelet.

During the break, the representative of the victim Sofia Osoba, Natalia Romanyk, spoke about new details of the investigation.

'The materials of the criminal proceedings contain a mass of facts indicating this young man's probable involvement in the crime. I can refute claims that other versions were not considered. A lot of people, men of approximately Zinchenko's age, have been interrogated, and where they were has been clarified; their phones have been examined. Many individuals have been ruled out as potential suspects. Many interesting details were discovered during the investigative actions, for example, Zinchenko's notes, where in the list of things he has to buy are pepper, a knife, and a firearm. Pepper is to throw off the dogs' scent. This is why the search dog lost the trail over Time,' Natalia Romanyk said.

According to her, witnesses will not be questioned for a long time, considering the amount of material that needs to be examined.

Detention and investigations continue

The court decided to extend Zinchenko's preventive measure - detention without the right to bail until April 24. The next hearing will take place on March 10.

Earlier, prosecutors of the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office completed the pre-trial investigation and handed over the indictment against 18-year-old Vyacheslav Zinchenko, who is suspected of murdering linguist Iryna Farion, to the court. 18-year-old Vyacheslav Zinchenko faces life imprisonment.

It should be noted that, as reported by 'Hromadskyi', in the case of the murder of the well-known linguist and former MP Iryna Farion, it is necessary to conduct 15 molecular-genetic examinations.

As is known, in the evening of July 19, former MP and linguist Iryna Farion died in the hospital after an assassination attempt. She was shot by an unknown person, and the attempt took place on Masaryka Street in Lviv. Residents reportedly noticed a young man in the area for a week prior to the incident.