University student avoids prison sentence for arson in Odesa
A student from the Nezhdanova Odessa Music Academy received a three-year suspended sentence for organizing the arson of four apartments in Odessa. She received the order via Telegram, involving two teenage friends in the arson. A total of almost 96,000 Ukrainian hryvnias was transferred to her account.
A student from the Nezhdanova Music Academy in Odesa, who was still a minor in 2024, was sentenced to three years of conditional imprisonment for organizing the arson of the doors of four apartments in Odesa. The sentence was handed down by the Primorsky District Court of Odesa on October 26.
According to the court, in October 2024, the girl met an unknown user on Telegram who offered her money to set fire to the doors at the specified addresses. She agreed and enlisted the help of two teenage friends in the arson. They purchased liquid fuel for lighting charcoal to carry out the arson.
The client demanded a video recording showing burning doors and a hand with fingers shaped like the letter "V". Friends sent the video to the student, who in turn forwarded it to the client. The money was deposited into her account. How much to give to her friends, she decided on her own, keeping the rest for herself. In total, almost 96,000 hryvnias were deposited into her account.
The girl admitted guilt and reached an agreement with the prosecution in January 2025. All four victims agreed to the agreement in writing. The court considered that she was genuinely remorseful, cooperated with the investigation, had no prior criminal record, and was a minor at the time of the crime. The probation service assessed the risk of re-offending as low. Two of the student's friends, who directly broke down the door, had already been convicted under the same article of the Criminal Code by the Primorsky District Court in Odesa.