Police: MP involved in fatal traffic accident, 18-year-old girl killed
A member of Ukraine's parliament has struck and killed an 18-year-old girl with his car in Zhytomyr Oblast, the National Police's regional branch reported on Nov. 3.
According to the police, the lawmaker hit the girl as she was walking down a highway in the town of Berezivka. She died at the scene of the accident.
The police did not identify the driver, but online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing law enforcement sources, that it was Andrii Nikolaienko, a 44-year-old MP from Kyiv Oblast.
An investigation is underway in order to determine if there was any wrongdoing, the police said.
Nikolaienko later confirmed that he was involved in the accident in a post on Facebook.
"Today, the worst thing that can happen to a driver happened to me - a person died under the wheels of the car I was driving," he wrote.
He also said that he was sober and did not violate any traffic rules, adding that "the tragedy could not be avoided."
Nikolaienko extended his condolences to the family.
There have been other instances of Ukrainian politicians engaging in unsafe behavior behind the wheel.
A group of Ukrainian diplomats visiting Vienna, Austria, crashed into a car with four German tourists inside in August 2022.
One of the Ukrainian diplomats refused to take a breathalyzer test, and the test of another diplomat showed a high level of alcohol in the body.
Oleh Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, said that diplomatic status does not give anyone the right to “violate traffic rules and endanger other people.”
