Writer Volodymyr Vakulenko's killing was ordered by collaborator from Luhansk whose sister survived Irpin occupation

Journalists from the investigative outlet Slidstvo.Info have discovered that Vladyslav Neskorodiev, a collaborator from Luhansk who goes by the alias Lev (Lion), was involved in the murder of children's writer and poet Volodymyr Vakulenko in Kapitolivka, Izium district, during the occupation of the Kharkiv region. Neskorodiev has family members in both the occupied territories and Kyiv Oblast.

Source: Slidstvo.Info

Details: Law enforcement officers reported a week ago that they had identified two soldiers from Luhansk Oblast who were suspected of killing Volodymyr Vakulenko and three other men. V.V. Neskorodiev and S.A. Udodenko were served with notices of suspicion. Neskorodiev, aka Lev, is the commander of a company of the "Luhansk People’s Republic" [a self-proclaimed and non-recognised formation in Luhansk Oblast, backed by Russia – ed.]. Udodenko, aka Udod (Hoopoe), is a machine gunner. Both hail from the currently occupied city of Luhansk.

Slidstvo.Info journalists found Vladyslav Neskorodiev's sister and aunt and talked to them.

In the spring of 2022, Russian soldiers led by Neskorodiev visited Volodymyr Vakulenko's house several times. The investigation materials state that Russian soldiers abducted the writer along with his teenage son, who has a disability. 

Despite a day of torture, Vakulenko refused to cooperate with the Russians, and at first they took him and his son back home. But two days later, a white car marked with a letter Z was once again seen parked in Vakulenko's yard. [The letter Z is one of the most recognisable symbols of the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine; the Russians often mark their armoured vehicles with a Z – ed.]

Neskorodiev ordered the soldiers to drag Vakulenko out of the house by force. The Russian soldiers also took his backpack, which had military patches of Ukrainian Armed Forces units on it. Locals found the backpack in Kapitolivka, a 15-minute drive from Izium, a few days later. 

Neskorodiev probably gave Udodenko the order to shoot Vakulenko. Udodenko killed the writer with three gunshots, after first breaking his fingers. Vakulenko's body was identified among other bodies showing signs of torture that were recovered during an exhumation in November 2022. 

Slidstvo.Info found Vladyslav Neskorodiev's page on the Russian social network Odnoklassniki (Classmates). The traitor is 33, married to Lina, and has a 7-year-old daughter. The family decided not to leave occupied Luhansk.

Slidstvo.Info called Neskorodiev, but his Ukrainian number turned out to be no longer in service. 

Vladyslav's sister Siuzanna moved to Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, after the occupation of Luhansk in 2014. The first she had heard about the war crimes her brother is suspected of was during her conversation with the journalists.

Quote from Siuzanna: "You're telling me this now, and my heart just started pounding. I don't know this whole story at all... We are from Luhansk. I left back in 2014. But my brother stayed there, and I don't even know where he is or what's going on with him... I was shocked when I heard from my grandmother what had happened there, in Luhansk. It was a shock for me, I couldn't believe it."

Details: Siuzanna said that when Russian troops occupied Kyiv Oblast, she did not have time to flee to safety with her children, so she waited in the basement of their house until Irpin was liberated. Her family survived the occupation in Irpin. Their house in Irpin also survived, although the windows were smashed. They have moved to another house now.

Siuzanna had lost touch with her brother after a falling-out: "We haven't spoken for seven years. I don't even know where he is or what's going on with him. We've never got on that well. The last time we saw each other was in 2014, when we were in Luhansk."

She said she was unaware that her brother had sided with the Russians: "He was working on construction sites, helping our aunt and uncle. I don't know any more than that. My family stayed in Luhansk: my cousin Oleksandr Kovalov and his mother. My aunt stayed because my grandmother said she wouldn’t leave. I can't answer for the rest of them, I don't know why they decided to stay. Everyone decides for themselves."

Siuzanna reiterated that she hates the Russian army and that she herself "would never have switched to the Russian side". 

But Neskorodiev's aunt, Nataliia Kovalova, who lives in Luhansk, is fine with the occupation and does not hide her loyalty to Vladimir Putin and the Russian army on Odnoklassniki. 

Kovalova told the journalists she had also fallen out with her nephew, but that she was convinced that Neskorodiev was incapable of killing a civilian because she had raised him since he was a boy.

"Vladyslav would never be able to kill any civilian, and I know that for sure. I raised him from childhood, he is not that kind of person. So whatever the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office publishes, that’s their problem. I don't believe it and I never will," declared Nataliia, who is also convinced that "the Russian army is protecting Ukrainians" and "American mercenaries" are serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine suspects Vladyslav Neskorodiev of organising the murders of three more civilians in Izium: Ivan Shabelnyk, Ukrainian combat veteran Yurii Kavun, and Leonid Taran. 

Neskorodiev’s whereabouts are currently unknown. In Ukraine, he faces imprisonment for a term of 8 to 12 years (Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Support UP or become our patron!