The killer of a police officer from Izmail was sentenced to life in prison

The Izmail City and District Court in Odesa Oblast sentenced a man to life in prison for shooting and killing a police officer in the city of Izmail in August 2025.

According to the court’s verdict, the man faced multiple charges; he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for intentional homicide, four years for illegal possession of a firearm, four more years for the illegal modification of a firearm, and finally, life imprisonment for the murder of a law enforcement officer.

Subsequently, by applying the principle of absorption of the more severe sentence into the less severe ones, these terms were combined into a single life sentence. The time he served in pretrial detention will also be credited toward this sentence.

The tragic incident occurred on August 5, 2025, at approximately 6:00 p.m. in the city of Izmail. Preliminary findings indicate that on the outskirts of Izmail, officers from the patrol police response unit stopped a 45-year-old moped driver to check his documents. The man behaved aggressively, drew a weapon, and began firing at the police officers. 

As a result, one of the officers was wounded. In response, the officer fired his service weapon and wounded the assailant.

Both were hospitalized. Unfortunately, the senior police lieutenant died in the hospital. The assailant, who sustained gunshot wounds, is currently in the hospital.

Police investigators have opened a criminal case under Article 348 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (attempt on the life of a law enforcement officer, a member of a public organization for the protection of public order and state borders, or a member of the armed forces). The suspect faces life imprisonment.

In April, the man’s body was found in a car on one of the city’s streets. It was later determined that he was City Council member Oleksandr Ivanytskyi. The police’s initial theory was that it was a suicide.

Кирило Бойко