Kovalchuk Serhii

Date 28.05.2024

Source note: official statements, media reports, eyewitness accounts, and social media claims are presented as claims by the respective sources. They are not treated as established facts without independent confirmation, forensic documents, or a court ruling.

Kovalchuk Serhii

Chronology

  • 28.05.2024 - 32-year-old Serhii Kovalchuk was taken to the Zviahel district TCC in Baranivka for a military medical board. The man was said to have a diagnosis of epilepsy.
  • 29.05.2024 - he was taken to hospital with multiple injuries and in a coma. He was connected to a ventilator.
  • 02.06.2024 - Serhii Kovalchuk died in hospital without regaining consciousness.
  • 04.06.2024 - burial in Baranivka.
  • 05.06.2024 - residents of Baranivka held a protest outside the TCC, around 100 people.

Circumstances of the incident

He was taken to the TCC for the medical board. The next day he was in hospital in a coma with severe head injuries.

Family's version

His aunt says Kovalchuk was beaten: his head, jaw, and chest were injured. That had nothing to do with epilepsy.

His father said: "My son's skull was smashed in, he did not regain consciousness for three days. The anesthesiologist said right away that people do not survive injuries like that."

TCC version - disproved

The Zhytomyr regional TCC claimed:

  • he died as a result of an epileptic seizure;
  • before arriving at the TCC he had "abused alcohol for several days and had signs of minor injuries."

These claims were contradicted by the evidence:

  • A forensic toxicology examination, according to the parliamentary commission, found no alcohol in his blood.
  • According to the parliamentary commission, neither doctors nor relatives confirmed that he had epilepsy.
  • His death certificate states multiple traumatic brain injuries with displacement of skull bones.

Investigation status

  • Prosecutors opened proceedings under Part 1 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code (intentional murder).
  • The Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada demanded the dismissal of the leadership of the Zviahel TCC.
  • Zhytomyr regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko said the head of the TCC's second department had been suspended.
  • The case is under the control of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
  • The Ground Forces command expressed condolences.

Protests

On 5 June, around 100 residents of Baranivka gathered outside the TCC demanding a fair investigation and the dismissal of its leadership.

Sources

Media