The court delivered a verdict in the case of the murder of Iryna Farion

The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv sentenced Viacheslav Zinchenko to life imprisonment in the case of the murder of linguist and public figure Iryna Farion.

The verdict began to be announced on October 1. The court's decision was reported by a Suspilne correspondent from the courtroom. This is a first-instance court decision.

Zinchenko was accused of intentional murder of a person in connection with the performance of public duty, motivated by national intolerance, as well as illegal handling of weapons. He was charged under paragraphs 8 and 14 of part 2 of Article 115 and part 1 of Article 263 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Under this qualification, the indictment was transferred to court at the end of 2024.

The prosecution during the court debates requested life imprisonment for Zinchenko. For illegal handling of weapons, the prosecutor proposed four years of imprisonment, and for intentional murder - life imprisonment, with the less severe punishment absorbed by the more severe one.

Zinchenko did not admit his guilt. Before the verdict was announced, he also refused to testify and participate in court debates. His defense during the process denied the substantiation of the accusation.

According to the investigation, on July 19, 2024, Farion was ambushed near her house on Masarik Street in Lviv. The attacker fired one shot to the head and fled. The linguist was hospitalized in critical condition, but died the same day in the hospital.

Zinchenko was detained on July 25, 2024 in Dnipro. Since then, he has been in custody without the right to bail. During the pre-trial investigation, law enforcement conducted more than 60 expert examinations, interviewed more than 1,500 people and processed a significant array of CCTV footage.

The trial at the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv lasted from the beginning of 2025. Court debates ended on September 17, 2026, after which the panel of judges retired to the deliberation room. Officially, the court set the announcement of the decision for October 1–2.

Since this is a first-instance court verdict, it can be appealed.

Based on materials from: Suspilne Lviv, Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Lviv, Radio Svoboda