The SBI exposed two military officers who helped suspects in the attack on patrol policemen in Vinnytsia region escape.
According to the investigation, on April 20, 2024, two servicemen, who were wanted on suspicion of shooting police officers in Vinnytsia region, asked a fellow officer to help them hide and illegally cross the state border of Ukraine.
Despite the fact that the public already knew that the father and son were wanted for the murder of a law enforcement officer, the defendants responded and decided to help. In particular, one of them handed over a car for the escape abroad, and the other went to pick up passports and a cell phone, which he later handed over to the attackers.
Having received the consent, the wanted servicemen hid their car in the garage of the suspect’s father. They also took the car of a fellow officer and drove to Podilsk, Odesa region, where they were detained.
On the night of April 20, two police officers stopped a car in the Haisyn district of Vinnytsia region to check it. There were two passengers in the car, who opened fire on the police. 20-year-old police officer Maksym Zaretskyi died of his wounds, and his partner was injured.
Valeriy and Vitaliy Vasilake are currently in pre-trial detention. They are suspected of murder and attempted murder of police officers, as well as desertion with weapons. At the trial, Valeriy (Vitaliy’s father) said that patrol officer Masksym Zaretskiy was shot by his son.
The pre-trial investigation is being carried out by investigators of the Second Investigation Department (based in Odesa) of the SBI’s TU located in Mykolaiv.