A court has extended the detention of a driver from the Kherson region who caused a traffic accident that left four people dead

A court has extended the pretrial detention of Pavlo Pleshivtsev, a driver from the Kherson region, who drove into an underpass in Kyiv, killing four people.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Pleshivtsev will remain in custody without the right to bail until September 5, 2026. The hearing was held via video conference.

The defense requested that the hearing be held in closed session and that the suspect be released on his own recognizance, but the court rejected both motions.

The fatal accident occurred on June 5, 2026, at approximately 5:00 p.m.

According to the preliminary investigation, the 49-year-old driver of a Mercedes-Benz was speeding, lost control on a curved section of the road, veered off the roadway, and crashed into an underground pedestrian underpass where people were present.

As a result of the accident, two community police officers, a woman, and a 12-year-old boy were killed. Three other people, including a female passenger in the Mercedes-Benz, were injured.

The driver was detained at the scene of the accident and was notified that he is suspected of violating Part 3 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. 

According to the investigation, he was sober at the time of the accident, but had previously been subject to administrative penalties on multiple occasions for speeding.

It is known that Pavlo Pleshivtsev is the leader of the Evangelical Christian Baptist religious community in the village of Pidstepne in the Kherson region. The congregation has been registered since 1991, and he became its pastor in February 2015, according toYouControl.

The village of Pidstepne is located near Oleshky and is currently under Russian occupation.

Ірина Глухова