Robbery and shooting: a gang of lottery and store attackers was convicted in Mykolaiv

In Mykolaiv, a court sentenced two men who committed a series of robberies with firearms and grenades in 2018-2019. The court found them guilty of planned robberies of gambling establishments and shops and sentenced them to imprisonment.

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

According to the case file, the defendants acted by prior conspiracy, carefully prepared for the crimes, used masks for disguise and weapons to intimidate the victims. Their main goal was to seize money from the cash registers of gambling establishments and shops.

The first attack took place on December 9, 2018, at the premises of the state lottery "Kosmolot". One of the attackers threatened the administrator with a grenade, while the other beat him and knocked him to the floor. The attackers stole about 3 thousand hryvnias and fled.

A few days later, on December 15, one of the defendants, along with an unidentified accomplice, attacked the Nico-Loto establishment. Threatening with a pistol, they forced the attendees to lie down on the floor and stole more than 70 thousand hryvnias from the cash register.

The crimes did not end there. On January 4, 2019, the same defendant committed a robbery in a Domino's store, where he took money from the cash register at knifepoint.

On January 6, another attack took place at the Golden Cup lottery branch. Armed assailants broke into the premises and began threatening customers. When one of the victims tried to hide, they opened fire at him. The man was shot in the leg and shoulder and stabbed. After that, the attackers seized his bag, which contained about 200 thousand hryvnias and personal belongings, and fled.

The investigation also revealed that both defendants were in possession of weapons: one was carrying a Makarov pistol with ammunition, the other an F-1 combat grenade.

Despite their denials of guilt, the court found them guilty of the crimes based on evidence and witness testimony. In particular, the victim recognized one of the attackers, and a taxi driver confirmed that he had driven the suspects to the scene of one of the attacks and saw them carrying weapons.

As a result, the court sentenced one of the defendants to 9 years and 6 months in prison, and the other to 8 years and 6 months with confiscation of property.

In addition, the court partially satisfied the civil claims of the victims. The offenders must pay UAH 200,000 in material damage and UAH 250,000 in non-pecuniary compensation to the victim, as well as compensate the companies for losses.

In February, law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, Poland and Moldova conducted an anti-drug operation codenamed Rubicon. The investigation uncovered a transnational criminal organization that had established a full cycle of drug trafficking, from smuggling precursors from the EU to operating 34 clandestine laboratories in 21 regions of Ukraine.

Анна Бальчінос