Authorities close Handziuk murder investigation, confirm Manger as organizer

Vladislav Manger, the head of the Kherson Regional
Council, was confirmed by Ukrainian law enforcement authorities in statements
published on Apr. 27 to have organized the murder of Kateryna Handziuk, a civic
activist in Kherson who had worked closely with Western-financed NGO community.
The determination of Manger’s guilt and the close of pre-trial investigations
was announced by the Security Service of Ukraine and Prosecutor General’s
Office. “All the materials are ready. SBU employees worked with professionalism
and gathered evidence that offers the possibility to prove clearly the
prosecution’s case in court. I hope this case will be heard in the first
priority,” said SBU Head Ivan Bakanov in a published statement.

Manger had been named a suspect in the crimes of
ordering a crime and determining its target, including another organizer in the
crime, developing the crime’s plan and determining the method of inflicting
bodily harm and organizing the finances to commit the crime. Council aide
Oleksiy Levin was identified by the statements as Manger’s co-conspirator and
suspect in the same crimes. However, formal criminal charges have yet to be
filed against either of them. The gathered evidence will be examined by defense
attorneys before it is submitted to the court, said Bakanov’s statement.

The close of the pre-trial investigation prompted about
100 activists to conduct protests the night of Apr. 27 at the President’s
Office, before moving towards the nearby residence of Prosecutor General Iryna
Venediktova. In Facebook posts, they accused her of deliberately ruining the
criminal case, having concluded the various investigations three months
prematurely, and having reached backroom deals with the Kherson politicians
involved in the killing. Submitting the criminal case to the court in its
current status fulfills the requests of Manger’s lawyers, they also pointed
out. Meanwhile, alleged co-conspirator Oleksiy Levin has yet to testify and has
refused to cooperate with the investigation, after being returned from his
illegal flight abroad. Manger has also yet to be officially removed from his post
as Kherson regional council head.

Zenon Zawada: The
decision to end pre-trial investigations is the latest chapter in the
“Corruption as Usual” saga in Ukraine that President Zelensky has failed to
address in any meaningful way. As we have argued,
the criminal case as it stands now looks to be a carefully orchestrated
political arrangement that makes Manger the fall guy for the Handziuk murder,
absolving the involvement of his higher-ups (former Kherson Regional
Administration Head Andriy Hordeyev and his deputy, Yevhen Ryshchuk).

We doubt that the Western NGOs that have been
interested in justice in Handziuk’s murder (including Transparency
International) will be satisfied with this outcome. And the U.S. State
Department will view this as the latest evidence of the Zelensky administration
backsliding on Western integration, especially after his dismissal of Ruslan Riaboshapka
as prosecutor general and the subsequent resignation of prosecutor Vitaliy
Kasko (also backed by the U.S. State Department).

This episode also confirms the utter lack of any
political strategy or vision by the Zelensky administration, which is entirely
oriented on pragmatic, short-term solutions of political survival. This
approach will gradually take its toll on Zelensky’s poll ratings, which remain more-or-less resilient owing to his
celebrity luster. Having already lost Ukraine’s pro-Western electorate, he is
gradually losing Ukraine’s Russian-oriented electorate as
well.