The oligarch who made Zelenski famous, accused of ordering an assassination. Igor Kolomoiski faces life imprisonment

War in Ukraine. Igor Kolomoiski, formerly close to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and later disgraced, is suspected of having ordered an assassination. The Ukrainian billionaire supported the candidacy of Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019 and owned the television station where the Ukrainian president gained fame as a comedian.

By the Observator editorial team on 08.05.2024, 14:35

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine announced that “a well-known businessman”, already accused of fraud, is suspected of having “ordered a murder”. The name of the suspect in question was not mentioned, and his image was blurred in the photo accompanying the text, but it seems to be Igor Kolomoiski.

The Kiev press confirmed that it is about the 61-year-old Ukrainian tycoon, one of the richest people in Ukraine. He is accused of “ordering the murder of the director of a law firm” as part of a “personal revenge”, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

A billionaire and former ally of President Zelenski, accused of ordering an assassination

According to the investigation, the oligarch allegedly tried to assassinate Serghei Karpenko because he did not annul and invalidate decisions of the general meeting of shareholders at a metallurgical plant. The police claim that Kolomoiski had a personal interest in the plant’s activity and the decision of the general meeting of shareholders did not allow him to implement his plan.

He appealed to the director of the law firm, who participated in the general meeting of shareholders and drew up the legal documentation, and threatened to cancel the decisions. After being refused, he decided to take revenge, writes Ukrainska Pravda.

The Ukrainian billionaire would have hired, for this purpose, through his bodyguard “members of a criminal gang”, who “specialized” in eliminating competition. The four members of the group attacked the victim, hit and stabbed her in the vital organs, but did not manage to kill her, the Ukrainian authorities said. The lawyer was hit on the head with a metal rod and stabbed in the chest, stomach and back, but the victim’s wife prevented the attackers from killing him and doctors managed to save his life.

In another statement, the Ukrainian police stated that the attack took place in 2003 in Feodosia, in Crimea, a peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. The perpetrators of the attack were arrested after a few days and later sentenced to 6 to 12 years in prison .

A separate investigation was launched to determine who ordered the attack. And only on May 8, 2024, Kolomoiski was announced as a suspect. He faces up to 15 years or life in prison. In September, Igor Kolomoiski was placed in custody, in another case of fraud and money laundering.