Sternenko: Organizer of Attack on Him Is in Pre-Trial Detention, Police Officer Who Tracked Him Was Dismissed
Ukrainian volunteer Serhiy Sternenko told Ukrainska Pravda that three people are known to have been involved in preparing the May 2025 attempt on his life. The organizer is in a pre-trial detention center, while a police officer who tracked his movements was dismissed.
Ukrainian volunteer Serhiy Sternenko, who was targeted in an attack in May 2025, said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda that three people are currently known to have taken part in preparing the crime on behalf of Russian special services. According to him, the organizer is already in a pre-trial detention center, while the law enforcement officer who monitored his movements was simply dismissed from his job.
Sternenko said the attacker, Lyudmyla Chymerska, was helped by several people. He stated that a police officer used the city's Safe City video surveillance program to follow his movements and pass information on, which then reached handlers in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). The organizer, in the volunteer's words, coordinated the whole process locally.
Weapons and preparation
Sternenko said this man supplied Chymerska with a firearm and explosives, since she already had explosives in her apartment. The woman then spent several days at a shooting range learning to shoot. The volunteer added that the organizer is not a law enforcement officer, and when asked whether he was a criminal, replied: "You could say so."
The officer's dismissal
As for the police officer, Sternenko said he was dismissed because, by the officer's own account, there was no subjective element of the offense: he did not know he was acting in the FSB's interests. The volunteer believes the man should nevertheless face criminal liability for unauthorized interference with electronic systems.
Background
On 1 May 2025, Sternenko reported that he had been attacked and wounded. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) later said it was an attempted shooting and released photos of the detained attacker and the pistol. Ukrainska Pravda subsequently published video of the attack obtained from its own sources. The detained woman was served a notice of suspicion of treason and attempted murder; the SBU said she had been recruited by Russian special services.
