Hitman and Accomplice Detained in Acid Attack Case

A man and a woman have been detained on suspicion of dousing a Yekaterinburg resident with acid on the orders of her ex-husband. The main suspect, the victim«s ex-husband Nikolay Yermakov, was previously arrested. He denies his guilt.

The Sverdlovsk Region Investigative Committee reported that Yermakov hired this pair to murder his ex-wife.

The crime occurred on the morning of 12 January in an underground parking lot. The attacker doused the woman with a caustic liquid, but during her resistance, he fled without completing his intended act.

The perpetrators and their female accomplice were detained by officers from the Organized Crime Control Department of the regional Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the assistance of the city police department and the 14th police precinct.

«The final suspects were detained at the residence of their relatives where they were trying to hide,» said the head of the press service of the Sverdlovsk Region Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Valery Gorelykh. «Both had previously been criminally prosecuted and had convictions for large-scale drug trafficking. They are a kind of Bonnie and Clyde of our time. The man was sentenced by the Kirovsky District Court of Yekaterinburg to 12 years of imprisonment and was released from a penal colony in 2023. This time they committed a serious crime together.»

All suspects in the case have been formally charged. Depending on their role, they face charges under the following articles of the Criminal Code:

• «Organization of an attempted murder committed by a group of persons in collusion» (Part 3, Article 33; Part 3, Article 30; Paragraph «zh», Part 2, Article 105 of the Criminal Code);
• «Attempted murder committed for hire» (Part 3, Article 30; Paragraph «z», Part 2, Article 105 of the Criminal Code);
• «Aiding and abetting in an attempted murder committed for hire» (Part 5, Article 33; Part 3, Article 30; Paragraph «z», Part 2, Article 105 of the Criminal Code).

Until the court decides on a pre-trial restraint, all the accused will remain in custody.

The victim, Alena, left her ex-husband in February 2025 due to domestic violence. As a result of the chemical attack, she suffered severe burns, and doctors do not rule out the need for a skin graft.