In Kryvyi Rih, a man stole 10,000 hryvnias from under the pillow of his mother's partner.

A man from the Kryvorizh district, who has a history of theft convictions, returned from prison but did not change his ways. He stole over 10,000 hryvnias from under the pillow of his mother's partner, which landed him back in court. This was reported by "Vydomo" citing "Pervyi Kryvorizhskyi".

The man was released from prison in June 2024, where he had served time for theft. Living with his mother and her partner, he was aware of where the latter kept his savings – under the pillow he slept on.

In October 2024, he entered the partner's bedroom and took part of the money – 3,200 hryvnias – from under the pillow.
Over the next two days, he stole an additional 3,400 and 4,000 hryvnias from the same location.

In court, the man admitted his guilt and explained that after his release, he moved in with his mother and her partner since he had no place of his own.

He was unable to secure a formal job due to lacking Ukrainian citizenship (the verdict states that the man holds Russian citizenship). Thus, he survived on random earnings: tending cattle and performing other heavy physical labor for local villagers.

Due to a lack of steady work for some time and needing money for his own expenses, the perpetrator decided to steal some money from his mother's partner in several acts.

The man expressed genuine remorse for his actions, apologized to the victim, and promised not to commit further crimes. He also requested that he not be punished too harshly.

The victim informed the court that he had been living with his partner for over 20 years. In June 2024, the woman's son returned from prison and began living with them in their apartment.

In October, the man discovered that part of the money he kept under his pillow in his room was missing. He immediately suspected his partner's son of stealing the 10,600 hryvnias, but initially, the son did not want to confess. Therefore, the victim reported the theft to the police – only after that did the son admit to his actions and sincerely apologized, which the victim accepted.

He emphasized that his partner had fallen seriously ill and could no longer move independently, requiring constant outside care. For some time, he cared for her, but due to his advanced age and poor health, he was no longer able to care for her or himself.

The man has no close relatives. After his release from prison, he has been taking care of both of them, including shopping for groceries, cooking, chopping firewood, lighting the stove, and tending to goats. If necessary, he calls for an ambulance.

He has no grievances against his partner's son, believing he harmed himself since the stolen money was intended for purchasing housing for himself and his mother, as the apartment does not belong to the victim. After his death, "the heirs will undoubtedly evict" the accused and his mother from it.

As there is no one else to care for the elderly due to their age and helplessness, he requested the court to impose a sentence not involving imprisonment.

The Sofiivskyi court found the man guilty of theft committed during martial law (Part 4, Article 185 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The punishment was set at 5 years in prison, which was replaced with 3 years of probation.