Vladimir Balukh, convicted in Russia for possession of ammunition and an attack on an FSIN officer, and then released as part of an exchange with Ukraine, fell into a coma after the attack in Kiev. This was announced on Tuesday, September 8, on the website of the party of the former President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko “European Solidarity”.
“We demand an immediate investigation and answers to questions about who attacked Vladimir Balukh and all the circumstances of this crime. We do not exclude that the cause of the tragedy was the political views of a representative of our party and demand personal control over the investigation of the Minister of Internal Affairs, ”the statement says.
The fact that Belukha was beaten and he is in intensive care was announced earlier by the deputy of the “European Solidarity” Irina Gerashchenko. The police launched an investigation. The victim, as well as another released as part of the exchange with Russia, Roman Sushchenko, were going, according to Poroshenko, to join his party to participate in local elections, which are scheduled for October 25.
Ukrainian law enforcement officers qualified this incident as robbery, for which the perpetrators could face up to 15 years in prison. The Kiev prosecutor’s office took control of the case.
Balukh in 2017 was sentenced by the Razdolnensky court in Crimea to 3.5 years in prison for illegal possession of ammunition. In addition, in July 2018, he was found guilty of disrupting the activities of state institutions: he hit one of the FSIN officers.
On September 7, 2019, an exchange of detainees took place between Moscow and Kiev. Special flights with Russians in Ukraine and Ukrainian citizens released in Russia landed in Vnukovo and Borispol, respectively. The exchange took place according to the “35 to 35” formula. Within its framework, Vladimir Belukh returned to Ukraine.