The head of the Sumy Regional Prosecutor's Office, Oleksandr Panchenko, as the senior prosecutor of the group, announced on January 6, 2026, the suspicion of a 64-year-old resident of Sumy for the rape of his minor granddaughter.

It has been established that in 2020, the girl, who was only 9 years old at the time, came to spend the summer holidays with her grandparents in the village. It was that summer that her grandfather, abusing the child's trust, raped her for the first time. Since then, he systematically engaged in sexual relations with his granddaughter.

During the period of living with the girl's family at the beginning of the full-scale war, the suspect committed sexual violence against the child, including repeatedly over the course of a week.

Only when the girl turned 15 did she dare to tell her mother about it. The woman reported it to the law enforcement authorities. 

The actions of the suspect have been qualified as the rape of a person under the age of fourteen, committed repeatedly (part 4 and part 6 of Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

At the request of the investigator, which was supported in court by the head of the regional prosecutor's office, the court decided to impose a preventive measure in the form of detention without the right to bail.

“The grandfather, who should have been an example and a reliable friend to the child, cruelly harmed her. For this crime, he faces life imprisonment, and the prosecution will insist on such a punishment during the trial,” said the head of the Sumy Regional Prosecutor's Office, Oleksandr Panchenko.

The pre-trial investigation is being conducted by investigators of the Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Sumy region.

Note: according to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of committing a crime and cannot be subjected to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in a lawful manner and established by a guilty verdict of the court.