Ten years after the murder of Belarusian journalist Pavel Sheremet in Ukraine, where does the case stand

Ten years after the murder of the Belarusian-born journalist, Pavel Sheremet, impunity persists. Former colleagues and fellow Ukrainian and Belarusian journalists gathered in central Kyiv on Monday, July 20, 2026, around the monument in his memory, to pay tribute and demand justice. The 44-year-old journalist had been living in Ukraine since 2014 and notably collaborated with the Ukrainian online news outlet Ukrainska Pravda. He was killed in a car bomb attack on July 20, 2016, in the heart of the capital. The suspects have still not been brought to trial, and those who ordered the attack have not been identified. Speaking at the memorial, Ukrainska Pravda editor-in-chief Sevgil Musaieva said "Belarusian special services" are most likely responsible.

On the morning of July 20, 2016, Pavel Sheremet took the car belonging to his partner and Ukrainska Pravda co-founder Olena Prytula and set off to host the morning show on Radio Vesti. At 7:45 a.m., an explosive device planted the previous day under the driver's seat detonated. The journalist, a critic of the Belarusian regime, was killed instantly. A preliminary investigation for murder was opened in Ukraine, but has been marked by inconsistencies.

Ten years later, according to information of the investigative outlet Slidstvo.info,one of the main lines of inquiry currently pursued by Ukrainian police is that the journalist was killed "because of his professional activities, notably in Belarus." But overall, the investigation is "virtually at a standstill," confirms Anna Babinets, director and co-founder of the outlet, which has worked extensively on the case.

Seven key dates in the case:

• 20 July 2016: Pavel Sheremet is killed in central Kyiv on his way to Radio Vesti to host a morning show. According to Ukrainian authorities, an "explosive device" had been placed in the car. Surveillance footage released by the Ukrainian police shows three individuals near his home and the car shortly before his murder.

• 10 May 2017: A journalistic counter-investigation conducted notably by the Ukrainian investigative outlet Slidstvo.info and the international investigative network OCCRP reveals shortcomings in the authorities' handling of the case: incomplete witness questioning; the presence of a former Ukrainian intelligence officer outside the journalist's home the day before his death - information that was not included in the case file; and the deletion of surveillance footage.

• 12 December 2019: At a press conference attended by newly elected President Volodymyr Zelensky and then Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, Ukrainian police announce the names of three Ukrainian suspects in Pavel Sheremet's murder. All deny involvement.

• 22 May 2020: The preliminary investigation into the three suspects is announced as completed and a trial is expected to begin.

• 04 January 2021: Several news sites, including the Brussels-based independent website EUobserver, publish an investigation into the alleged role of the self-proclaimed Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in the murders of his opponents. It reveals recordings of conversations from 2012 in the office of then head of the Belarusian KGB, Vadim Zaitsev, in which he refers toseveral murders, including that of Pavel Sheremet.

• 02 June 2023: The Shevchenko Court in Kyiv convenes a new jury for the Pavel Sheremet case, as one juror is abroad and another is serving in the army. Hearings resume from the beginning.

• 24 January 2024: The Ukrainian courts suspend the trial of the three Ukrainian suspects at the request of the defence. Two of them are on the front line and cannot attend their trial.

At the time of publication, Ukrainian judicial authorities had not responded to RSF's enquiries regarding the progress of the investigation.

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