The court returned the car of the People's Deputy from the Fatherland Andriy Nikolayenko, who, as a result of exceeding the speed limit, hit and killed 18-year-old orphan Viktoriya Nazarova, while Nikolayenko's lawyers are seeking a full acquittal of their client.
As reported by former People's Deputy Ihor Mosiychuk, a significant procedural turn has occurred in the case of a fatal road accident in the Zhytomyr region, which occurred on November 3, 2023.
In particular, on October 21, 2025, the Zhytomyr District Court of Zhytomyr Region decided to return the Mercedes-Benz GLE 300D to the owner - the vehicle's common-law wife, Kateryna Vaidych.
PHOTO: Kateryna Vaidych – civil wife of People's Deputy Andriy Nikolayenko
It was in this car that at around 9:45 in the village of Berezivka, People's Deputy Andriy Nikolayenko fatally injured 18-year-old Viktoriya Nazarova, a local resident and orphan girl, who died at the scene.
According to the investigation materials previously published by journalists of the publication “Schemes”, 40 minutes before the tragedy, the MIA’s automatic recording system recorded a significant speeding: on the Kyiv-Chop highway section, the car was moving at 162–165 km/h compared to the permitted 110 km/h, which was the basis for a fine of UAH 340. The cameras recorded the violation at 9:03 a.m. – near the village of Novogorodetske, approximately 63 km from the scene of the fatal accident.
PHOTO: information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs' administrative offenses verification service. Photo – “Schemes”
The investigation in the criminal case was conducted by employees of the State Bureau of Investigation. On April 16, 2024, the indictment was sent to the court. The SBI report stated: the driver, contrary to the requirements of the traffic rules, was driving at a speed exceeding the permitted speed, which was confirmed by speed cameras and phototechnical examination. The investigation indicated that compliance with the permitted speed and timely braking would have given the victim the opportunity to cross the road safely.
PHOTO: consequences of a fatal accident involving People's Deputy Andriy Nikolayenko
Separately, attention was also paid to systematic violations of the speed limit: according to the State Bureau of Investigation, in 2022–2023, the patrol police brought the driver of this car to administrative responsibility for speeding 22 times, and since April 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs service has recorded at least 9 such cases involving this particular vehicle.
Despite this, after a long pause in the consideration of the case - which had actually not moved since the moment of its transfer to the court in April 2024 - the process was resumed, and almost immediately a decision was made in favor of the accused: the court allowed the return of the car. Further, recently, on December 16, during the hearing, the court examined the evidence of the prosecution - video from the cameras, witness statements, protocols of the inspection of the scene of the incident, and other materials.
At the same time, the defense, despite the available evidence, insists on a different version: that the car was moving at the permitted speed, and the speed indicators of over 130 km/h, indicated in the investigation materials, allegedly do not correspond to reality due to a “failure of the car’s systems.” These statements directly contradict the official version of the investigation, according to which cameras on the Kyiv-Chop highway recorded an excess of 40–50 km/h, including within the settlement where the tragedy occurred.
We remind you that the case of the death of an 18-year-old orphan is currently being represented by the Prosecutor General's Office, and therefore the proceedings are under the control of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Ruslan Kravchenko.
