Kuzmenko Yulia Leonidovna

Pediatric cardiac surgeon, volunteer, military medic — suspect in journalist's murder

Candidate of Medical Sciences, head of the Department of X-ray Angiography and Endovascular Surgery at the Scientific and Practical Center for Pediatric Cardiac Surgery of the Ministry of Health. Volunteer for "Euromaidan-SOS" since 2013, frontline medic during the ATO/JFO. Recipient of the Presidential Award "For Humanitarian Participation in ATO" (2016) and the "Euromaidan-SOS-2016" volunteer award. In 2018, included in the list of the 100 most influential women of Ukraine by Focus magazine.

Arrest in the Sheremet case, 184 days in custody — verdict not yet delivered

On December 12, 2019, she was arrested along with Andriy Antonenko ("Riffmaster") and Yana Dugar on suspicion of organizing the murder of journalist Pavlo Sheremet (July 20, 2016): the investigation claims that Kuzmenko and Antonenko appear on video installing explosives under a car. The accused deny guilt; in particular, Kuzmenko and Antonenko point to a height difference of about 15 cm between themselves and the persons in the recordings. On August 11, 2020, she was released from custody after 184 days. In June 2023, due to a change in the composition of the court, the trial began anew; as of 2025, the mastermind behind the murder has not been identified by the investigation, and the verdict has not been delivered.