(Adnkronos) – The Ukrainian military intelligence (Gur) agent Vladyslav Reut, who in recent days had confessed to the murder of Anastasiia Berezovska, the woman suspected of attempting to assassinate billionaire Vadym Ermolaev and his family in Munich, has retracted his version before the Kyiv court. During the hearing for the validation of pre-trial detention, the 34-year-old Reut stated that he “categorically denies” killing the woman, claiming that the co-defendant Vitalii Zhykovych, a former official of the Ukrainian Security Service (Sbu), was the one who shot her. Both are accused of premeditated murder and will remain in custody while investigations continue. The BBC reports this.
According to the new reconstruction provided by Reut, Berezovska was picked up after her return to Ukraine from Poland because she “had to be hidden” in connection with an unspecified “criminal matter.” The agent recounted that Zhykovych allegedly pulled out a modified pistol during the journey and, once they reached a wooded area near the village of Yuriv, ordered him to shoot, saying: “Either her or us.” Reut claims he refused and that it was the 50-year-old Zhykovych who killed the woman with four shots, then forcing him to help bury the body and dispose of the weapon. He also explained that he initially confessed because he was threatened: “He told me that if anything happened to him, my family members would be in danger.”
Zhykovych’s defense entirely rejects this version, calling it an attempt by Reut to evade his responsibilities. Prosecutor Dmytro Tkachuk reiterated that, as of the current state of the investigation, the two allegedly acted “jointly and in a coordinated manner.” The motive for the crime remains unclear, as does that for the attack in Munich against businessman Ermolaev, a former Ukrainian citizen sanctioned by Kyiv for continuing to do business in Crimea after the Russian annexation. According to investigators, all hypotheses remain open, including those of a criminal motive, corruption, or possible Russian interference.
