Ukraine prepares lawsuit against Russia for murder of 17 year-old Ukrainian by separatist commander
The Ukrainian government intends to file a lawsuit against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in connection with the murder of 17 year-old Stepan Chubenko, goalkeeper for the Avanhard Kramatorsk football club, in June 2014.
A statement to this effect was made by Deputy Prosecutor General Yevgeny Enin on Facebook, in a comment regarding Russia’s release of Vadim Pogodin, one of the murderers and commander of the illegal armed group “Kerch”.
“The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine has not received an official response from Russia regarding the transfer to the Ukrainian law enforcement authorities of so-called former ‘Kerch’ battalion commander Pogodin, who cruelly killed the Ukrainian citizen Stepan Chubenko in the Donbas and was subsequently arrested in Crimean territory. The Ukrainian authorities will continue to make every effort to bring Pogodin to criminal accountability, even if it turns out that Russia’s response to Ukraine’s request was to release the murderer from arrest,” Enin observed.
“The mother of deceased Stepan Chubenko has already expressed willingness to delegate the Ukrainian government the right to approach the ECHR to protect her rights. Together with Ivan Leshchina [authorized state representative on ECHR matters to the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice] and the national police, we are planning the relevant complaint to the ECHR in connection with Russia’s violation of the right to life (art. 2 of the Council of Europe’s Convention on Human Rights). The killers and the people covering them must stand before the court!” he wrote.
17 year-old Stepan Chubenko participated in rallies in support of Ukraine’s integrity in Kramatorsk. During times of bombardment, he helped elderly people to get to shelter and brought them water when the city was cut off from its water supply.
In June 2014, Stepan went to a friend in Kyiv. On June 23 he boarded a train in the capital in order to return home. He passed through Donetsk, where he was arrested by militants from the “Kerch” battalion, commanded by Pogodin, because of the yellow-blue ribbon on his rucksack. The militants beat the boy cruelly and then killed him.
Since June 20, Pogodin has been in the Simferopol pre-trial detention center in connection with the Kramatorsk police suspecting him of murder (art. 115 CC) and kidnapping (art. 146). On July 21, Ukraine sent an official request for Pogodin to be handed over. On July 30 it became clear that Pogodin had been released from arrest.