Oleh Kuzmenko, head of the Association of Territorial Communities of the Zaporizhzhia Region, has publicly accused local prosecutors of stonewalling the investigation into an assassination attempt on his family. Despite the executors of the crime facing trial, the alleged mastermind has not been served with a notice of suspicion after nearly four years.
The armed attack occurred on September 10, 2022, in Zaporizhzhia. Assailants threw a live grenade into a car carrying Oleh Kuzmenko and his pregnant wife, subsequently opening fire with a shotgun. Bystanders were also injured in the strike. The couple survived the attack, and their child was later born healthy.
Law enforcement officers detained three direct perpetrators three months after the incident. Their trial has been ongoing since June 2023, with one of the key defendants, Dzhemal Dzhahinian, currently held in a pre-trial detention center.
«The individual considered the organizer of this crime has still not received a notice of suspicion. All my petitions to the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office yielded zero results—I received only formal brush-offs. I am not asking the prosecution to pass a verdict; that is strictly within the court’s jurisdiction. I am only asking them to fulfill what is explicitly required by law.»
— Oleh Kuzmenko, victim and head of the Association of Territorial Communities of Zaporizhzhia Region
According to Kuzmenko, investigators prepared and submitted a completed draft notice of suspicion regarding the alleged organizer to the prosecutor back in December 2025. However, the document has remained unsigned and without procedural progress for the past six months.
The victim emphasized that his family has been forced to live under round-the-clock protection for almost four years. Due to the lack of action regarding numerous appeals to the Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Kuzmenko decided to bring the situation into the public spotlight.
The criminal investigation and the actions of law enforcement agencies in the Zaporizhzhia region remain under close public scrutiny. The victim’s family is demanding an official explanation from the regional prosecutor’s office regarding the delays in processing the case.