Mykolaiv sentences arsonists of post office

In Mykolaiv, a court sentenced two men who tried to set fire to an Ukrposhta branch for a reward received via Telegram. One of the defendants had previously been convicted of terrorism, but both avoided actual imprisonment.

This is evidenced by the verdict of the Korabelnyi District Court of Mykolaiv.

The judge found the two men guilty of attempting to set fire to the Ukrposhta branch in the city's Korabelny district. The men are natives of Odesa region who, according to the court, received the task via Telegram and were to receive at least UAH 20,000 for it.

As the court found, in November 2024, the defendants arrived at the Mykolaiv-50 post office on Bohoyavlenskyi Avenue. They had prepared gasoline, lighters and other means of arson in advance. First, the men broke the stained glass window of the building and poured gasoline over the frame, but the first attempt to set fire to the building failed.

Later, one of them returned to the damaged window and set fire to the gasoline-doused frame, while the other recorded everything on his phone. They then fled the scene, hoping that the flames would engulf the building. However, within minutes, security police arrived and extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher.

As a result of the arson, Ukrposhta suffered more than UAH 6.5 thousand in damage. The defendants compensated part of the damage voluntarily before the verdict. The court also ruled to recover from them more than UAH 31 thousand in expenses for conducting examinations.

During the court hearing, both men fully admitted their guilt and repented. One of them had no previous convictions, while the other had already been convicted by the Darnytsia District Court of Kyiv under an article on terrorism. The court sentenced them to imprisonment, but released them from actual service with probation.

In addition, the court ordered one of the defendants to complete a probation program and special online courses on social interaction.

In April, in Mykolaiv, a court sentenced a 19-year-old local resident who had set fire to the administrative building of the district court on a contract basis. During the pre-trial investigation, it turned out that the young man acted on the instructions of a curator from Russia.

Анна Бальчінос