Over three weeks - from January 21 to February 13, 2026 - a resident of Dnipro visited "Epicenter" on Zaporizhzhia Highway, 62-K six times and each time left with Brass and FADO brand ball valves. On August 31, 2026, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Dnipro put an end to this case, issuing a guilty verdict.
The total value of the stolen goods across 6 episodes amounted to approximately 26,000 hryvnias. In addition, the court ordered the convicted person to pay 18,719 hryvnias and 40 kopecks for the costs of forensic commodity examinations. During the probationary period, the man is obliged to regularly report to the probation body and inform about any changes in his place of residence, work, or study.
Verdict and mitigating circumstances
The court qualified the actions of the accused under Part 4 of Article 185 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - theft committed repeatedly under martial law. The penalty for this article is 5 years of imprisonment. However, the court applied Article 75 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and released the convicted person from actual serving of the sentence with a probation period of 2 years.
When making its decision, the court took into account several mitigating circumstances:
absence of previous convictions;
full admission of guilt;
cooperation in solving the crime;
voluntary compensation of damages to "Epicenter" in full.
Accused's version
The man is a plumber by profession. In court, he explained that he found himself in a difficult financial situation due to problems with fulfilling an order: he had to rework the installation at his own expense, and he had no funds for it. That is why, according to him, he began stealing shut-off valves. After the thefts were exposed, the man repented and fully compensated the store for the damage caused.
The verdict has not yet entered into force and may be appealed.
