According to Ukrainian media, Dmytruk fled the country on August 25 after he was accused of assaulting a soldier and a law enforcement officer.
We are talking about two separate situations – informed the Prosecutor General's Office. The first one allegedly took place in Odessa, where Dmytruk was accompanied by his friends get into an argument with a uniformed officerand then make him “suffer minor bodily injuries.” The defendant also allegedly tried to take the officer's gun.
The second incident took place in Kiev, where Dmytruk allegedly he argued with a soldierand then gave the soldier several blows to the head. There is no information on when the described attacks took place.
Illegal border crossing
On August 26, the State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that Dmytruk crossed the state border in the Odessa Oblast and entered Moldova. He did it illegally, because during martial law men aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country due to the possibility of being drafted into the army.
Additionally, deputies can leave Ukraine only with the consent of parliament, which Dmytruk did not have.
According to information published in the media, the deputy's next stop was Rome. Ultimately, however, Dmytruk was detained in London. The deputy himself informed that he had to appear in court regarding the application from Kiev.
Statement from the prosecutor's office. The deputy was arrested
In Thursday's announcement, the prosecutor's office did not provide Dmytruk's name. It was also not reported where he was detained.
“The MP's whereabouts have now been determined and the court has ordered a preventive measure in the form of temporary arrest,” the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.
The prosecutor's office also said that it is cooperating with international partners to this end extradition of the deputywhich will enable the initiation of criminal proceedings.
The case of MP Dmytruk. “Politically motivated”
The Kyiv Independent describes that on August 24, Dmytruk admitted online that the officers they searched his room in the parliamentary hotel, as well as an apartment in Odessa. As he stated, these actions were “politically motivated.” He pointed to his previous pro-Russian views as well as his support for the associated group Kremlin Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Artem Dmytruk became an MP for the first time in 2019. He joined Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party, but was later expelled from it.