For more than four and a half years, the judicial proceedings surrounding the high-profile death of 12-year-old Daniil Belchenko and the severe injury of 10-year-old Oleksiy Nechyporenko have remained stalled in Zhytomyr Oblast. In March 2022, Alexander Yurko, a serviceman of the National Guard of Ukraine, and Viktor Ilchenko, head of the «Kombat UA» charitable foundation, opened fire with military weapons on the children, who were playing with plastic toy guns. Despite nearly 80 court sessions, neither defendant has received a final verdict.
The incident occurred on March 7, 2022, in the town of Radomyshl, located safely in the rear. Upon receiving a signal from a local public safety organization regarding two suspicious individuals in camouflage on a private property, volunteer Viktor Ilchenko and National Guardsman Alexander Yurko set out to investigate. They retrieved unregistered automatic rifles and scoped weapons stored in a Toyota RAV4.
Upon arriving at the scene, the men encountered two young children holding black and white toy guns that bore no physical resemblance to actual firearms. Nevertheless, the armed men shouted obscenities and ordered the children to freeze and put their hands up. Terrified, the boys dropped their toys and fled, prompting the men to open fire directly at them.
«According to court documents, witnesses confirmed the rifle barrels were held parallel to the ground. Roughly 16 live rounds were fired at the fleeing children.»
During the shooting, 12-year-old Daniil Belchenko sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the neck and chest from an AKS-74U rifle, causing immediate cardiac and respiratory arrest. His 10-year-old friend, Oleksiy Nechyporenko, suffered severe bodily harm, including an open fracture of his upper arm bone with displacement. Following the shooting, the National Guardsman applied a tourniquet to the surviving child while the volunteer called emergency services.
The pre-trial investigation lasted nine months before being submitted to the court. Over years of hearings, detention conditions for the accused shifted significantly. Supported by a defense team, Viktor Ilchenko secured a reduced measure of restraint—nighttime home arrest (22:00 to 06:00), which effectively mirrored the standard curfew imposed on all Ukrainian civilians. Furthermore, court seizures on his personal property and vehicle were lifted. Meanwhile, National Guardsman Alexander Yurko remained in custody before being transferred to a military guardhouse.
To date, the murder case in Radomyshl remains unresolved without a final conviction, drawing widespread public outrage and intense scrutiny from human rights advocates.