Odesa completes investigation into car arsonists who launched fireworks to order

Police have completed an investigation into the case of Odesa residents who set off fireworks and set a car on fire on request.

According to the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Odesa Oblast, the indictment against the men was sent to court.

According to the investigation, the younger man received an offer via messenger to launch fireworks in crowded places and set fire to a vehicle of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for a monetary reward. The customer promised to pay four thousand hryvnias for the first task and thirteen thousand for the second.

After agreeing to the terms, the man found an assistant among his friends. To launch the fireworks, the accomplices chose sports grounds near educational institutions on Lustdorfska Road and Semiia Hlodan Street, where there are usually many people. On January 31, in the evening, when explosions from enemy air attacks were heard in the city, ignoring the ban on the use of pyrotechnics during martial law, the men set off first one pyrotechnic installation, and a few minutes later - the next.

At the end of February, while performing a task to set fire to military vehicles, the men found a similarly characterized Citroen Jumper minibus of a civilian local resident parked in the yard of a high-rise building on Yevhen Chykalenko Street. During the curfew, which is still not punishable under current law, the perpetrators poured flammable liquid on the vehicle and set it on fire. The fire engulfed the vehicle and spread to a nearby parked Cherry Tiggo car owned by a local resident.

Local residents saw the fire and called firefighters, who extinguished the flames. Fortunately, no one was injured. The minibus burned down almost completely, and the car's body was damaged by the fire. According to the conclusion of the transport and commodity expertise, the owners of the cars suffered losses totaling almost UAH 485 thousand.

The offenders recorded both crimes on video as evidence and sent them to the customer, from whom they expected to receive money. However, they did not receive any reward.

The men are now charged with hooliganism and arson as part of an organized group. According to the sanctions of Article 296(2) and Article 194(2) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the maximum penalty for these crimes, if proven guilty, is imprisonment for up to 10 years.

Кирило Бойко