Rally coordinator at Lavra faces 6 years in prison for drug-related accident

Yaryna Aryeva near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in 2023. Photo: UOJ

Yaryna Aryeva, an organizer of the anti-UOC rallies near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, who struck a woman at a pedestrian crossing two years ago while under the influence of drugs, faces up to six years in prison, according to Law and Business.

Aryeva is charged under Part 2 of Article 286-1 of the Criminal Code: "Driving a vehicle while intoxicated, resulting in serious consequences." A drug, specifically a metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol, was found in her blood.

The next court session at the Obolon District Court in Kyiv is scheduled for 12:00 on February 5, 2025.

"According to available information, the prosecutor plans to request the court sentence Y. Aryeva to six years of imprisonment and revoke her driving privileges for eight years. This term excludes the possibility of parole," the statement reads.

Media reports also recall that her father, V. Aryev, a close media advisor to Petro Poroshenko, was once caught by Polish authorities attempting to smuggle drugs from the Netherlands. The case was referred to the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine. Aryev himself did not deny the attempt but claimed it was conducted "as part of a journalistic experiment."

As the UOJ previously reported, Yaryna Aryeva participated in anti-church protests near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra and administered social media groups where "activists" coordinated their activities against the UOC. She also facilitated the use of the "European Solidarity" office near the Lavra as an unofficial headquarters for "activists." On May 18, 2023, Aryeva participated in a blasphemous "funeral rite for the UOC MP".

Yaryna’s father, Verkhovna Rada deputy from "European Solidarity" Volodymyr Aryev, claimed that investigators and prosecutors were allegedly under the influence of the "Moscow Patriarchate," which, he argued, was trying to "discredit" his daughter.

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