A criminal case against two security guards accused of hooliganism and interfering with law enforcement operations effectively collapsed in the Obukhiv District Court of Kyiv Region after more than three years of proceedings. Due to systematic delays and the non-appearance of key figures, the statute of limitations expired, allowing the defendants to completely escape criminal liability.
The incident occurred on November 4, 2022, in a gated community in the Obukhiv district. A senior police investigator from the Kyiv Region, accompanied by special forces units, technical experts, and an attorney, arrived at the site to conduct investigative actions regarding an ongoing extortion case (No. 12021111230000288). According to case files, that primary case involved allegations that the director of «SK Dolyna» LLC had been extortionately demanding monthly payments from a victim, escalating the sum from 12,000 UAH to 34,000 UAH while damaging property.
Upon arrival, the investigative team was blocked by local security. A guard at the entrance gate refused to identify himself, state his security firm, or grant access. Shortly after, around ten individuals associated with the security firm arrived, including defendants Mykola Hrekov and Anatolii Kachur. Despite explicit warnings about criminal liability, the group parked a private vehicle across the road to block access, hurled verbal abuse, and threw stones at the police vehicle. The attack shattered the windshield and side windows, injuring one of the passengers. Police detained the two main aggressors that same day.
The case (No. 372/472/23) was assigned to Judge Tetiana Stashkiv of the Obukhiv District Court, charging Hrekov and Kachur under Part 1 of Article 343 (Interference with the actions of a law enforcement officer) and Part 2 of Article 296 (Hooliganism committed by a group) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Although proceedings began in February 2023, the trial stalled almost immediately.
Despite the severity of the attack on police officers in the line of duty, the court never imposed any pre-trial restrictions on the defendants throughout the three-year process—omitting personal recognizance, home arrest, or bail.
Initial delays were driven by the repeated non-appearance of victims, two of whom were active law enforcement officers. Although the court eventually fined the victims for missing hearings, defense attorneys seized on their absence as early as March 2023 to motion for the case to be dismissed, though that initial motion was denied.
In total, the court scheduled over 40 hearings, roughly once a month. However, approximately 35 of these sessions yielded no procedural rulings whatsoever.
«The court issued its first order for the forced appearance of witnesses via national police agencies only in late May 2026—literally on the eve of the statute of limitations expiring. For over three years prior, despite repeated absences by participants, no such enforcement measures were taken,» the case documentation reveals.
The dynamics shifted in August 2024 when Mykola Hrekov submitted proof of military enlistment, leading the court to suspend proceedings against him. Trial proceedings continued solely for Anatolii Kachur, yet nearly twenty subsequent monthly hearings passed without any substantive progress.
The case officially concluded in the summer of 2026. Anatolii Kachur was formally released from criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Consequently, the suspended case against Mykola Hrekov lost any legal basis for reactivation. A high-profile case involving violent resistance against police officers ended after more than three years without a single conviction or penalty.