On the public prosecution of the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, on November 4, 2025, the court found four residents of Mykolaiv guilty and sentenced them to actual terms of imprisonment for hostage-taking, illegal handling of weapons, and illegal seizure of a vehicle (Part 1 of Article 147, Part 1 of Article 263, Part 3 of Article 289 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The court sentenced the organizer to 9 years of imprisonment, one of his accomplices to 8 years and 6 months of imprisonment, and the other two to 7 years and 6 months of imprisonment each.

The investigation established that in August 2019, a resident of Mykolaiv, together with three accomplices, intending to illegally seize a cargo vehicle, deprived its driver of liberty. 

They brought the victim to the territory of one of the enterprises in Voznesensk, where they held him in one of the premises, demanding compliance with their conditions. 

To force the man to comply with their criminal demands, they also took his brother hostage and brought him to the place of detention.

Threatening the victim with physical harm to his relative, the criminals forced him to agree to the transfer of the vehicle.

Law enforcement officers detained the criminals on November 1, 2019. During a search of the vehicle of the criminal authority, a firearm was discovered and seized.