Lured to Kill

On May 1, a 45-year-old woman was arrested in Kyiv after shooting at pro-Ukrainian activist, YouTuber, and army volunteer Serhii Sternenko. The suspect confessed that a man online seduced her into carrying out the attempted murder.

Sternenko has been active in Ukrainian politics since 2014. The Odessa native gained notoriety after becoming a board member of his city's chapter of the Ukrainian ultranationalist organization Pravy Sektor (Right Sector) from 2014 to 2017. And, despite holding a law degree, Sternenko has had run-ins with authorities. He was convicted of kidnapping pro-Russian activist Sergey Shcherbich, but in May 2021, was subsequently acquitted. Currently, he is a volunteer in the Ukrainian army and a YouTuber with over 2 million subscribers.

On May 1, Sternenko posted on his Telegram channel: "[I] was attacked. [I am] wounded." Two minutes later, he said, "Everything ok, there is no threat to life. Russians are idiots." The YouTuber confirmed shortly after that the attacker, a woman, was quickly detained. The Ukrainian Secret Service (SBU) posted a picture of a woman dressed in pink kneeling with her face covered by her sweater and a firearm on the ground nearby. Sternenko said a bullet went "right through" his leg. No vital organs were damaged. Ukrainskaya Pravda obtained security camera footage of the shooting.

The Ukrainian publication Grati identified the shooter as Odessa-born Lyudmila Chumerskaya. She does not have a job. She has a disability and requires hemodialysis. According to the SBU, she was recruited by Russian special services at the end of 2024 while looking for "quick money." At first, she surveilled and photographed cars. Then she was told to assemble an explosive device. On April 15, she moved to Sternenko's building and monitored him. On May 1, Chumerskaya was told where the gun was and was ordered to kill the activist near his home. The shooter did not know the victim.

Chumerskaya's lawyer, Anatoly Yurchenko, said she pleaded guilty and will cooperate with authorities.  During her trial, Yurchenko said "a person she completely trusted" told his client to kill Sternenko. The defense said a man introduced himself as an SBU employee. Then, he motivated Chumerskaya to attack Sternenko for alledgedly cooperating with the FSB and coordinating missile strikes on Kyiv. Even though the woman never met "the SBU employee" personally, she said, "First they intimidated me, and then I fell in love with the person (...) We communicated on Viber, I fell in love with words." She never saw a picture of the man.

The court ordered Chumerskaya arrested for at least two months. Sternenko is convinced Russian special forces are behind his attempted murder. According to him, the assassination could have been sparked by the clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian groups in Odesa on May 2, 2014.