A village head from Lviv region escaped punishment for the fatal hit-and-run of a pedestrian.

The Skole District Court in the Lviv region has issued a verdict against Vasyl Zmiyovskyi, the head of the Verkhnuhusynskyi administrative district of the Borynia community in Lviv Oblast, for a fatal traffic accident he caused in July this year on the Kyiv–Chop highway in the Stryi district. The perpetrator of the accident was sentenced to conditional punishment.

According to the case materials, on the evening of July 7 this year, 59-year-old Vasyl Zmiyovskyi, driving a Renault Kangoo, struck a 34-year-old woman who was crossing the road at an unregulated pedestrian crossing in the village of Korostiv, Stryi district. The victim suffered skull fractures, a ruptured lung, and other injuries, leading to her death at the scene.

The accused admitted his guilt in court. He explained that he indeed violated traffic rules by failing to reduce speed and not stopping to yield to the pedestrian crossing the roadway at the unregulated pedestrian crossing, resulting in the collision.

Judge Viktoriia Kurnytska found Vasyl Zmiyovskyi guilty of violating traffic safety regulations that led to the death of the victim (part 2, Article 286 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and sentenced him to four years in prison, along with a one-year ban on driving vehicles. At the same time, the court's verdict released the perpetrator from the main punishment, establishing a two-year probation period. An appeal may still be filed against the verdict.