Ukrainian law enforcement detained 57-year-old Kherson resident Oleksii Dʼyachenko, who had been on the international wanted list since 2018. He is suspected of involvement in a series of high-profile robberies of jewelry stores in the Kherson region.
This was reported by the Center for Journalistic Investigations with reference to court rulings.
According to the Center for Journalistic Investigations, Dʼyachenko was detained on December 4 in Mykolaiv, where he had been living for the past few years. Since May 2018 he had officially been wanted.
Dʼyachenko is suspected of a number of serious crimes, including robberies, intentional damage to property, illegal handling of firearms, vehicle appropriation, resistance to law enforcement officers, and threats or violence against them. In total, the case concerns violations of six articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. If found guilty, he faces from 8 to 15 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Among the episodes under investigation by law enforcement is the attack on the jewelry department “Mir Zolota” in Kakhovka in August 2017. At that time the perpetrators, dressed in police uniforms, armed and wearing bulletproof vests, took jewelry worth nearly 4.2 million UAH.
Another attack occurred in May 2018 at the shopping mall “Fabrika” in Kherson. The losses of the “Aurum” jewelry store amounted to nearly 5.5 million UAH. During their escape the perpetrators offered armed resistance to the police, stole an Opel Vectra C, which they later set on fire in Mykolaiv Oblast.
The investigation established that the attackers prepared for the crimes in advance and illegally stored firearms and ammunition in various regions of Ukraine.
In court, Oleksii Dʼyachenko did not admit his guilt. He said he only learned about being wanted in 2019, but did not contact law enforcement because of fear. He also said his family lives abroad, and that he had been working as a blogger in Mykolaiv in recent years.
The court imposed a preventive measure in the form of detention until February 1, 2026, inclusive.