Yuriy Tsaruk, one of the farmers featured in the investigative documentary “Two Tractors Outside Rivne” by Slidstvo.Info, OCCRP, and Chetverta Vlada, has won 50,000 hryvnias ($1,208) in moral compensation from the Ukrainian government, 70 times less than what Yuriy and his attorney had requested.
The award, listed in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions, follows a 15-year investigation into the theft of his tractor, which remains unsolved. The law enforcers who previously handled this case asked Yuriy to pay for the investigation.
Tsaruk and his state-appointed lawyer requested 3.5 million hryvnias ($84,596) in damages, calling the amount awarded inadequate.
“They awarded 50,000 hryvnias for moral damages. It’s laughable,” Tsaruk told Slidstvo.Info.
He said an appeal to the initial court ruling was denied, and he now plans to take his case to Ukraine’s Supreme Court and, if necessary, the European Court of Human Rights.
“The excessive, untimely, and superficial conduct of the pre-trial investigation has caused harm to the claimant (Yuriy Tsaruk – ed.). Over the past 14 years, both the claimant and his wife have experienced a deterioration in their health. The claimant substantiates his claims on the grounds of the ineffectiveness and unreasonable protraction of the pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings in which he is recognized as the victim. As a result of these deficiencies, the responsible party has yet to be held criminally liable,” the court’s decision reads.
For nearly 15 years, the pre-trial investigation into the case — where Yuriy Tsaruk is the victim — has dragged on without resolution. Slidstvo.Info explored this story in depth in the documentary “Two Tractors Outside Rivne.”
In Rivne Oblast, two farmers — Yuriy Tsaruk and Anatoliy Naumets — had their tractors stolen within a short time of each other. Tsaruk had purchased his tractor in the spring of 2010 for $18,000, financing $8,000 of it through a loan. Just two weeks later, the tractor vanished from its usual spot. Tsaruk spent the entire day after the theft tracking its path with law enforcers.
Soon, right in the middle of the farming season, Anatoliy Naumets also had his tractor stolen. The man, who supports eight children, had bought it for his small farm. When Anatoliy called the police, they inspected the scene and collected numerous traces left by the thieves.
“We started searching that same day, driving through nearby villages,” the farmer recalls. “People there had seen something, but by the time we arrived, there was nothing.”
For the families of Yuriy and Anatoliy, the theft of their tractors was a devastating blow. Both had saved up for years to buy the essential equipment, and some of the money had to be borrowed. Under the stress, Yuriy Tsaruk’s wife, Halyna, even fell seriously ill.
The law enforcement officers investigating the case initially demanded money from the farmers — supposedly for fuel to search for the tractor.
Yuriy Tsaruk told journalists that six months after the theft, a criminal investigator came to him and said, “He needed money. I didn’t say anything, just gave him 1,000 hryvnias ($126)… I thought if he had asked for more, where would I get it?”
Anatoliy, whose tractor was also stolen, was pressured to pay as well. The police linked both crimes. Anatoliy admitted he gave them 2,400 hryvnias ($302).
Later, Yuriy said the demands for money came from higher up in the police force.
“A year and a half later, someone from the regional police called me, saying Officer Bilous wanted to ‘borrow’ 10,000 hryvnias ($1,245) from me,” he says.
Yuriy decided to “lend” the officer the money, hoping it would help the investigation move faster.
Almost immediately after the theft, the police had the names of two men suspected of being involved. One document in the criminal case — a memorandum — details the investigation, linking the two thefts (from Yuriy and Anatoliy) and using mobile phone geolocation data to track the suspects’ movements. The evidence collected early on suggested the case was nearly solved. The suspected thieves were even detained at one point. Volodymyr Chyzh, the former deputy head of the Dubno police department who led the initial investigation, later told journalists he had been “one hundred percent certain” the two men were guilty.
Yet years later, the case remains unsolved. Some evidence is no longer admissible in court, numerous mistakes were made, and too much time has passed.
