© Ahmad Gharabli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
L’avocat de Steeve Gagnon, Me Hugo Caissy, demande au jury de croire son client lorsqu’il affirme qu’il n’a pas foncé délibérément avec sa camionnette sur des piétons, le 13 mars 2023 à Amqui, mais qu’il a « échappé la route » en se penchant pour récupérer une capsule de cigarette électronique qui était tombée sur le plancher de son véhicule.
Pierre Saint-Arnaud- La Presse Canadienne
Il s’agirait donc, dans ce cas, d’un accident et non d’un crime et Steeve Gagnon devrait être acquitté.
Steeve Gagnon est accusé du meurtre prémédité de trois personnes et de tentative de meurtre de neuf autres personnes qui ont été blessées lors de la tragédie.
En livrant son plaidoyer, mercredi, Me Caissy a fait valoir que de nombreux éléments du témoignage de Steeve Gagnon sont véridiques et qu’il est «imprudent, mais pas invraisemblable» qu’il se soit penché pour ramasser quelque chose.
Au soutien de son affirmation, il a souligné que la camionnette est montée à cinq endroits sur le trottoir, dont deux où ne se trouvaient aucun piéton.
L’accusé, a rappelé le juriste, bénéficie de la présomption d’innocence et que c’est à la poursuite de renverser cette présomption hors de tout doute raisonnable.
Cependant, si le jury ne croit pas son client et qu’il en vient à la conclusion que Steeve Gagnon a agi de façon volontaire, il ne peut pas, selon Me Caissy, conclure que c’était prémédité.
L’avocat s’est longuement attardé sur le fait que son client avait d’abord quitté son domicile pour aller faire un mauvais parti aux représentants de Service Canada, furieux qu’il était de voir ses prestations d’assurance-chômage interrompues.
Des témoignages d’experts ont établi que Steeve Gagnon souffre d’un trouble délirant chronique et d’un trouble de personnalité qui se traduit par une impulsivité parfois incontrôlée, amplement démontrée en Cour par ses explosions de colère répétées à l’endroit du juge, du jury, des procureurs de la Couronne et même de son propre avocat.
Quant aux vidéos faites par Steeve Gagnon dans lesquelles il fait notamment référence à la possibilité d’aller frapper des enfants, l’avocat estime qu’elles sont « une expression de ses idées délirantes » et ne peuvent être vues comme une preuve de préméditation.
La poursuite devait suivre en après-midi avec sa propre plaidoirie.
© Charles Krupa/Associated Press
© Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Maintenant que la preuve a été présentée, la défense et la Couronne procéderont ce mercredi 18 juin à leur plaidoirie au procès de Steeve Gagnon, l’auteur de l’attaque au camion-bélier d’Amqui. Le drame avait fait trois morts et neuf blessés, le 13 mars 2023, sur le boulevard Saint-Benoît Ouest.
Le juge Louis Dionne donnera ensuite ses directives aux membres du jury, au palais de justice de Rimouski. Ils devraient entamer leurs délibérations, ce jeudi 19 juin, pour en arriver à un verdict final.
L’avocat de la défense, Me Hugo Caissy, a complété sa preuve vendredi dernier, avec l’audition de deux témoins.
Il a fait comparaitre l’accusé lui-même, dont le témoignage a été chaotique et interrompu par de nombreuses pauses liées à son comportement, en insultant même son propre avocat, le juge Dionne et les membres du jury.
L’autre témoin, le psychiatre Samuel Gauthier, estime que Gagnon était en mesure de comprendre les conséquences de ses actes après son évaluation effectuée le 30 septembre 2024.
Dans son rapport, Dr Gauthier a expliqué que l’accusé était aux prises avec des idées délirantes de nature paranoïde de manière chronique, mais qu’il n’y avait pas de lien à faire avec les événements du 13 mars 2023.
Steeve Gagnon fait face à trois chefs d’accusations de meurtre au premier degré (avec préméditation) et deux chefs de tentative de meurtre.
Avec l’aide d’Alexandre D’Astous
© Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press, via Associated Press
Ukraine's parliament on June 17 approved President Volodymyr Zelensky's nomination of 35-year-old Ruslan Kravchenko as the country's new prosecutor general, making him the youngest person to ever hold the post.
Kravchenko, a former military prosecutor and most recently head of Ukraine's tax service, replaces Andrii Kostin, who stepped down in October 2024 following a scandal involving fraudulent disability claims by dozens of prosecutors in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
Lawmakers supported Kravchenko's appointment with 273 votes in favor, according to Yaroslav Zheleznyak, an MP from the Holos party.
A native of Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, Kravchenko served as a military prosecutor in Crimea before leaving the peninsula after Russia's annexation in 2014. He was one of the prosecutors in the case of fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych.
Kravchenko will now lead the Prosecutor General's Office amid war, reforms, and heightened scrutiny of law enforcement bodies' work. His predecessor, Kostin, resigned after the media revealed that at least 50 prosecutors had allegedly received disability status fraudulently — a scandal that sparked widespread criticism.
The Prosecutor General's Office has played a central role in documenting Russian war crimes and enforcing anti-corruption efforts, especially since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova
© Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times
© Kenny Holston/The New York Times
© Sinna Nasseri for The New York Times
© Eric Lee for The New York Times
Des assurances couvriront les frais juridiques liés aux poursuites intentées par le Groupe immobilier Tanguay et Construction Technipro BSL contre la Ville de Rimouski, la MRC de Rimouski-Neigette et d’anciens administrateurs de la Société de promotion économique de Rimouski (SOPER).
« Il y a des assurances responsabilité qui seront utilisées tant au niveau de la Ville que des administrateurs », répond le maire Guy Caron, rassurant que les citoyens n’assumeront pas la facture finale.
Il confirme également que la Ville et lui-même, en tant qu’ex-administrateur à la SOPER, ont répondu dans les délais prescrits par la Cour supérieure pour contester les deux poursuites.
« Je ne peux pas parler pour les autres administrateurs, mais de notre côté, nous avons répondu. Pour la suite des choses, je ne peux pas commenter, puisque le processus judiciaire suit son cours ».
La Ville de Rimouski et la MRC de Rimouski-Neigette ont contesté la demande de poursuite civile de près de 5 M$ intentée par le Groupe immobilier Tanguay contre elles, 14 ex-membres du conseil d’administration de la SOPER et BDO Canada Limitée, en tant que syndic à la faillite.
Le Groupe Tanguay allègue avoir subi un dommage après s’être chargée de la construction de l’immeuble du Novarium, inauguré en août 2022.
Les personnes poursuivies disposaient d’un délai de 45 jours pour contester cette action en justice. Elles pouvaient aussi convenir du règlement de l’affaire, proposer une médiation ou de proposer la tenue d’une conférence de règlement à l’amiable. Elles ont décidé de contester.
Les ex-membres du conseil d’administration poursuivis à titre individuel sont le maire et ex-président de la SOPER, Guy Caron, le préfet de la MRC, Francis St-Pierre, les conseillers rimouskois Rodrigue Joncas et Mélanie Beaulieu, la mairesse de Saint-Marcellin, Julie Thériault, l’ex-maire de Rimouski, Marc Parent, l’ex-président de la SOPER et de Novarium, Jean Pouliot ainsi que les administrateurs Geneviève Landry, Nancy Morin, Marie-Michèle Bélanger, Josée Laflamme, Eve-Marie Rioux, Nicolas Horth et Camille Leblanc.
Le bail stipule que la Société de promotion économique devait payer un loyer annuel de 675 000$ sur une période de 15 ans, en plus d’assumer les frais d’exploitation qui s’élevaient à près de 200 000$.
Dans sa demande, le Groupe immobilier Tanguay prétend « avoir été piégé » dans ce projet pour lequel il aurait reçu l’assurance qu’il n’y avait aucun autre risque que celui de la construction du bâtiment.
Pour sa part, Construction Technipro BSL a déposé un recours s’élevant à 272 472,41$, plus les intérêts, pour des travaux impayés liés à l’ajout d’une garderie dans l’immeuble du Novarium.
Technipro BSL affirme que les travaux réalisés pour l’aménagement d’une garderie privée subventionnée, baptisée « À chacun son histoire », n’ont pas été entièrement réglés.
Inaugurée en janvier 2024, cette installation devait accueillir 78 enfants, dont 20 poupons de moins de 18 mois.
Le projet bénéficiait au départ d’un financement du ministère de la Famille du Québec, notamment pour les salaires des 14 employés, la location des locaux et le budget de fonctionnement.
La Société de promotion économique de Rimouski a confirmé sa faillite, le 28 novembre dernier, alors que ses dettes s’élevaient à environ 4 M$. En tout, 14 personnes perdaient leur emploi.
L’information avait été dévoilée, la semaine précédente, par Le Soir.ca. Niant la nouvelle jusqu’à la conférence de presse, le président de la SOPER et maire de Rimouski, Guy Caron, avait reçu deux avis juridiques, le convainquant de prendre cette décision.
Le premier lui confirmait que la Ville n’aurait pas à assumer les dettes de la SOPER dans une éventuelle faillite. Le deuxième lui indiquait qu’elle ne pourrait pas reprendre l’édifice du Novarium, puisqu’une ville ne peut pas louer des espaces commerciaux à des particuliers.
Dany Deschênes, le prisonnier ayant tenté de s’évader alors qu’il recevait des soins à l’Hôpital régional de Rimouski, a vu son orientation et déclaration prévue le 12 juin être reportée au 27 juin au palais de justice de Rimouski.
Deschênes a été arrêté le 28 novembre 2024 et amené au poste de la Sûreté du Québec de La Mitis, à Price, pour différents chefs d’accusation.
À la suite de son interrogatoire, en attente de sa comparution, il a demandé à consulter un médecin, ce qui est permis par la loi.
Transporté à l’urgence de Rimouski vers 14 h 30, l’individu, résident dans La Mitis, a rencontré un membre du personnel médical, seul dans une salle d’examen, comme le permet aussi la loi.
Au moment du départ du soignant, Deschênes a profité des quelques secondes de solitude pour s’enfuir par une autre porte communicante.
L’homme a été rattrapé rapidement et neutralisé par les policiers. Personne n’a été blessé durant l’intervention.
En plus d’avoir comparu pour les chefs pour lesquels il était détenu, Dany Deschênes doit faire faire à des accusations d’évasion de garde légale et d’entrave au travail des policiers.
Il a été remis en liberté le 9 avril, par le juge Jules Berthelot, moyennant le versement d’une caution de 1 000$.
© Christinne Muschi/Reuters
© Christinne Muschi/Reuters
La police américaine l’a arrêté après deux jours de chasse à l’homme.
Le suspect est visé par six chefs d’accusation, dont deux de meurtre par arme à feu.
Il a tué une élue de la chambre des représentants du Minnesota et son mari à leur domicile, en se faisant passer pour un policier.
L’homme a également blessé gravement un membre démocrate du sénat du Minnesota et sa conjointe.
Selon un procureur fédéral, il s’était également rendu aux domiciles de deux autres élus démocrates «avec l’intention de les tuer».
[L'article Le meurtrier présumé d’une élue démocrate du Minnesota a été arrêté a d'abord été publié dans InfoBref.]
© Tim Gruber for The New York Times
© Tim Gruber for The New York Times
© Joseph Eid/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
© Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Local police in Oregon casually offered various surveillance services to federal law enforcement officials from the FBI and ICE, and to other state and local police departments, as part of an informal email and meetup group of crime analysts, internal emails shared with 404 Media show.
In the email thread, crime analysts from several local police departments and the FBI introduced themselves to each other and made lists of surveillance tools and tactics they have access to and felt comfortable using, and in some cases offered to perform surveillance for their colleagues in other departments. The thread also includes a member of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and members of Oregon’s State Police. In the thread, called the “Southern Oregon Analyst Group,” some members talked about making fake social media profiles to surveil people, and others discussed being excited to learn and try new surveillance techniques. The emails show both the wide array of surveillance tools that are available to even small police departments in the United States and also shows informal collaboration between local police departments and federal agencies, when ordinarily agencies like ICE are expected to follow their own legal processes for carrying out the surveillance.
In one case, a police analyst for the city of Medford, Oregon, performed Flock automated license plate reader (ALPR) lookups for a member of ICE’s HSI; later, that same police analyst asked the HSI agent to search for specific license plates in DHS’s own border crossing license plate database. The emails show the extremely casual and informal nature of what partnerships between police departments and federal law enforcement can look like, which may help explain the mechanics of how local police around the country are performing Flock automated license plate reader lookups for ICE and HSI even though neither group has a contract to use the technology, which 404 Media reported last month.
Kelly Simon, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, told 404 Media “I think it’s a really concerning thread to see, in such a black-and-white way. I have certainly never seen such informal, free-flowing of information that seems to be suggested in these emails.”
In that case, in 2021, a crime analyst with HSI emailed an analyst at the Medford Police Department with the subject line “LPR Check.” The email from the HSI analyst, who is also based in Medford, said they were told to “contact you and request a LPR check on (2) vehicles,” and then listed the license plates of two vehicles. “Here you go,” the Medford Police Department analyst responded with details of the license plate reader lookup. “I only went back to 1/1/19, let me know if you want me to check further back.” In 2024, the Medford police analyst emailed the same HSI agent and told him that she was assisting another police department with a suspected sex crime and asked him to “run plates through the border crossing system,” meaning the federal ALPR system at the Canada-US border. “Yes, I can do that. Let me know what you need and I’ll take a look,” the HSI agent said.
More broadly, the emails, obtained using a public records request by Information for Public Use, an anonymous group of researchers in Oregon who have repeatedly uncovered documents about government surveillance, reveal the existence of the “Southern Oregon Analyst Group.” The emails span between 2021 and 2024 and show local police eagerly offering various surveillance services to each other as part of their own professional development.
In a 2023 email thread where different police analysts introduced themselves, they explained to each other what types of surveillance software they had access to, which ones they use the most often, and at times expressed an eagerness to try new techniques.
“This is my first role in Law Enforcement, and I've been with the Josephine County Sheriff's Office for 6 months, so I'm new to the game,” an email from a former Pinkerton security contractor to officials at 10 different police departments, the FBI, and ICE, reads. “Some tools I use are Flock, TLO, Leads online, WSIN, Carfax for police, VIN Decoding, LEDS, and sock puppet social media accounts. In my role I build pre-raid intelligence packages, find information on suspects and vehicles, and build link charts showing connections within crime syndicates. My role with [Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team] is very intelligence and research heavy, but I will do the occasional product with stats. I would love to be able to meet everyone at a Southern Oregon analyst meet-up in the near future. If there is anything I can ever provide anyone from Josephine County, please do not hesitate to reach out!” The surveillance tools listed here include automatic license plate reading technology, social media monitoring tools, people search databases, and car ownership history tools.
An investigations specialist with the Ashland Police Department messaged the group, said she was relatively new to performing online investigations, and said she was seeking additional experience. “I love being in a support role but worry patrol doesn't have confidence in me. I feel confident with searching through our local cad portal, RMS, Evidence.com, LeadsOnline, carfax and TLO. Even though we don't have cameras in our city, I love any opportunity to search for something through Flock,” she said. “I have much to learn with sneaking around in social media, and collecting accurate reports from what is inputted by our department.”
A crime analyst with the Medford Police Department introduced themselves to the group by saying “The Medford Police Department utilizes the license plate reader systems, Vigilant and Flock. In the next couple months, we will be starting our transition to the Axon Fleet 3 cameras. These cameras will have LPR as well. If you need any LPR searches done, please reach out to me or one of the other analysts here at MPD. Some other tools/programs that we have here at MPD are: ESRI, Penlink PLX, CellHawk, TLO, LeadsOnline, CyberCheck, Vector Scheduling/CrewSense & Guardian Tracking, Milestone XProtect city cameras, AXON fleet and body cams, Lexipol, HeadSpace, and our RMS is Central Square (in case your agency is looking into purchasing any of these or want more information on them).”
A fourth analyst said “my agency uses Tulip, GeoShield, Flock LPR, LeadsOnline, TLO, Axon fleet and body cams, Lexipol, LEEP, ODMap, DMV2U, RISS/WSIN, Crystal Reports, SSRS Report Builder, Central Square Enterprise RMS, Laserfiche for fillable forms and archiving, and occasionally Hawk Toolbox.” Several of these tools are enterprise software solutions for police departments, which include things like police report management software, report creation software, and stress management and wellbeing software, but many of them are surveillance tools.
At one point in the 2023 thread, an FBI intelligence analyst for the FBI’s Portland office chimes in, introduces himself, and said “I think I've been in contact with most folks on this email at some point in the past […] I look forward to further collaboration with you all.”
The email thread also planned in-person meetups and a “mini-conference” last year that featured a demo from a company called CrimeiX, a police information sharing tool.
A member of Information for Public Use told 404 Media “it’s concerning to me to see them building a network of mass surveillance.”
“Automated license plate recognition software technology is something that in and of itself, communities are really concerned about,” the member of Information for Public Use said. “So I think when we combine this very obvious mass surveillance technology with a network of interagency crime analysts that includes local police who are using sock puppet accounts to spy on anyone and their mother and then that information is being pretty freely shared with federal agents, you know, including Homeland Security Investigations, and we see the FBI in the emails as well. It's pretty disturbing.” They added, as we have reported before, that many of these technologies were deployed under previous administrations but have become even more alarming when combined with the fact that the Trump administration has changed the priorities of ICE and Homeland Security Investigations.
“The whims of the federal administration change, and this technology can be pointed in any direction,” they said. “Local law enforcement might be justifying this under the auspices of we're fighting some form of organized crime, but one of the crimes HSI investigates is work site enforcement investigations, which sound exactly like the kind of raids on workplaces that like the country is so upset about right now.”
Simon, of ACLU Oregon, said that such informal collaboration is not supposed to be happening in Oregon.
“We have, in Oregon, a lot of really strong protections that ensure that our state resources, including at the local level, are not going to support things that Oregonians disagree with or have different values around,” she said. “Oregon has really strong firewalls between local resources, and federal resources or other state resources when it comes to things like reproductive justice or immigrant justice. We have really strong shield laws, we have really strong sanctuary laws, and when I see exchanges like this, I’m very concerned that our firewalls are more like sieves because of this kind of behind-the-scenes, lax approach to protecting the data and privacy of Oregonians.”
Simon said that collaboration between federal and local cops on surveillance should happen “with the oversight of the court. Getting a warrant to request data from a local agency seems appropriate to me, and it ensures there’s probable cause, that the person whose information is being sought is sufficiently suspected of a crime, and that there are limits to the scope, about of information that's being sought and specifics about what information is being sought. That's the whole purpose of a warrant.”
Over the last several weeks, our reporting has led multiple municipalities to reconsider how the license plate reading technology Flock is used, and it has spurred an investigation by the Illinois Secretary of State office into the legality of using Flock cameras in the state for immigration-related searches, because Illinois specifically forbids local police from assisting federal police on immigration matters.
404 Media contacted all of the police departments on the Southern Oregon Analyst Group for comment and to ask them about any guardrails they have for the sharing of surveillance tools across departments or with the federal government. Geoffrey Kirkpatrick, a lieutenant with the Medford Police Department, said the group is “for professional networking and sharing professional expertise with each other as they serve their respective agencies.”
“The Medford Police Department’s stance on resource-sharing with ICE is consistent with both state law and federal law,” Kirkpatrick said. “The emails retrieved for that 2025 public records request showed one single instance of running LPR information for a Department of Homeland Security analyst in November 2021. Retrieving those files from that single 2021 matter to determine whether it was an DHS case unrelated to immigration, whether a criminal warrant existed, etc would take more time than your publication deadline would allow, and the specifics of that one case may not be appropriate for public disclosure regardless.” (404 Media reached out to Medford Police Department a week before this article was published).
A spokesperson for the Central Point Police Department said it “utilizes technology as part of investigations, we follow all federal, state, and local law regarding use of such technology and sharing of any such information. Typically we do not use our tools on behalf of other agencies.”
A spokesperson for Oregon’s Department of Justice said it did not have comment and does not participate in the group. The other police departments in the group did not respond to our request for comment.
© United Kingdom Foreign Office, via The Associated Press
© Themba Hadebe/Associated Press
© Tim Gruber for The New York Times
Public trust in President Volodymyr Zelensky has dropped by 11 percentage points since May, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on June 16.
The survey found that 65% of Ukrainians currently trust the president, while 30% do not, yielding a trust balance of +35%, the lowest recorded since March.
Zelensky's still rating remains above the February 2025 low of 57%.
Sociologists can't pinpoint a specific cause for the short-term decline but highlight factors such as increasing pressure for a ceasefire and the weakening of the surge of popular support seen earlier this year during tense relations with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Zelensky's approval had spiked briefly in early May to 74% following the signing of a minerals agreement with the U.S., seen as a diplomatic and economic win. That boost proved short-lived.
The poll shows a stark regional divide. Trust is highest in western Ukraine at 73%, while in the country's south and east, areas more frequently targeted by Russian strikes, only 61% express confidence in the president.
The data also shows a sharp contrast in attitudes toward territorial concessions. Among those who trust Zelensky, 55% are strongly opposed to any such compromise. Among those who distrust him, 46% are willing to cede territory, while only 43% are firmly against concessions.
The survey was conducted between May 15 and June 3, using a random sample of 1,011 adult residents across Ukraine, excluding occupied territories. Respondents were interviewed by phone.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy
Les trois personnes accusées relativement à une fraude de 304 000$ à la Municipalité de Saint-Simon-de-Rimouski étaient de retour à la cour, le 12 juin, à Rimouski. Le ministère public a demandé à la juge Annick Boivin de prononcer le retrait du chef d’accusation de fraude qui pesait sur la mère et le conjoint de l’ex-directrice générale de la Municipalité, Fanny Beaulieu-Saint-Laurent.
Odette Beaulieu et Maxime Gosselin sont toujours accusés d’avoir eu en leur possession de l’argent et des biens en sachant qu’ils avaient été obtenus par la commission d’une infraction criminelle et d’avoir transféré la possession de sommes d’argent et de biens dans l’intention de les cacher ou de les convertir.
Pas de changement en ce qui concerne les accusations contre Fanny Beaulieu-Saint-Laurent qui est accusée d’avoir frustré la municipalité d’un montant dépassant 5 000$, d’avoir utilisé ou fait utiliser un ordinateur dans le but de commettre une fraude, d’avoir utilisé une carte de crédit de manière frauduleuse, d’avoir eu en sa possession de l’argent et des biens en sachant qu’ils avaient été obtenus par la commission d’une infraction criminelle et d’avoir transféré la possession de sommes d’argent et de biens dans l’intention de les cacher ou de les convertir.
Me Sarto Landry représente les trois accusés qui ont tous plaidé non coupables le 21 octobre 2024, lors de leur première comparution.
Les trois accusés reviendront en cour le 27 juin afin de fixer une date de procès. Me Landry a annoncé son intention de présenter une requête pour la tenue de procès séparé pour les accusés.
Lors d’un précédent passage à la cour, le juge de la Cour du Québec, Yves Desaulniers, a modifié l’ordonnance de blocage qui touchait la propriété de Fanny Beaulieu-Saint-Laurent et Maxime Gosselin puisqu’elle a été vendue par le DPCP.
« J’ordonne que le produit de la vente, soit un montant de 167 586$, soit bloqué, plutôt que l’immeuble ».
Rappelons que 304 000 $ ont disparu des coffres de la municipalité en 2021 et 2022.
President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed to the Verkhovna Rada the appointment of Ruslan Kravchenko as Ukraine's next Prosecutor General, Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk said on June 16.
Kravchenko, 35, currently heads the State Tax Service and is expected to be formally introduced to lawmakers during a faction meeting of Zelensky's Servant of the People party on June 17. A vote on his confirmation is expected the same day, according to lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
The nomination ends a six-month vacancy at the top of Ukraine's prosecution service, following the resignation of Andriy Kostin in October 2024. First Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Khomenko has served in an acting capacity since.
Kostin resigned amid a scandal involving prosecutors illegally obtaining disability status, which was discussed during a National Security and Defense Council meeting chaired by Zelensky.
Kostin later admitted to "many shameful facts of abuse" within the prosecutor's office.
Kravchenko, a native of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast, has held several senior roles in law enforcement and regional government. He previously served as head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration and led the Bucha District Prosecutor's Office.
He is best known for serving as the lead prosecutor in the treason case against exiled pro-Kremlin former President Viktor Yanukovych, who was convicted of aiding and abetting Russia's war against Ukraine.
If confirmed, Kravchenko will take over an office tasked with overseeing wartime prosecutions, including war crimes investigations and anti-corruption efforts linked to Ukraine's ongoing reforms.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Zadorozhnyy
© Joseph Eid/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
© Eric Lee for The New York Times
© Tim Gruber for The New York Times
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has arrested two individuals in Kyiv accused of attempting to extort $200,000 from a European defense company, potentially jeopardizing the delivery of electronic warfare (EW) systems to Ukraine's military, the SBU reported on June 14.
The suspects allegedly demanded the payment in exchange for facilitating the successful testing and adoption of five radio electronic warfare systems provided to Ukraine at no cost, according to statements released by the SBU and the Prosecutor General's Office.
The devices, supplied by a private foreign manufacturer, were financed by Ukraine's international partners. The producer had already delivered five systems to Ukraine, with additional contracts possible if the equipment performed well in combat conditions, the SBU said.
According to investigators, the suspects falsely claimed to have influence within Ukraine's Defense Ministry and promised to use their connections to ensure positive evaluations of the equipment.
"Under the guise of having contacts within the ministry, the men demanded $200,000 from the company in exchange for ensuring no obstacles during official trials of the equipment," the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.
Both men have been formally charged under Ukraine's Criminal Code for alleged obstruction of the Armed Forces and receiving unlawful benefits through influence peddling. The charges carry a possible sentence of up to eight years in prison and asset confiscation.
The arrests were made as part of a broader investigation led by the SBU and conducted under the procedural oversight of the Specialized Defense Prosecutor's Office. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing to identify all individuals involved.
Ukraine continues to rely heavily on international military assistance as it defends against Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its fourth year. Ukraine uses EW systems during Russian attacks on its cities and on the front line.
Kyiv and its Western partners launched an electronic warfare coalition in April, which consists of 11 countries and comes on top of other eight Western coalitions to support Ukraine. Other similar initiatives include an artillery coalition, a fighter jet coalition, and a demining coalition, organized within the framework of the Ramstein format.
The Kyiv IndependentFrancis Farrell
Ukraine conducted another prisoner swap with Russia, returning home dozens of wounded, ill, and young defenders, many of whom had been held since 2022. Both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and POW HQ did not specify the exact number of POWs returned in this exchange. One of the photos shows at least 41 people.
On 14 June 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on his official Telegram channel that Ukraine had carried out the fourth prisoner exchange in a single week.
“We continue to bring our people back from Russian captivity,” Zelenskyy wrote.
He added that many of those released had been in Russian hands since 2022 and included servicemen from the Armed Forces, National Guard, State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service.
“We must free everyone and we’re working toward this so that no one is left to the enemy,” Zelenskyy stated, thanking all those contributing to the process.
According to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, this latest exchange was part of a broader deal focusing on releasing those who are wounded or seriously ill. It was carried out under agreements previously reached with Russia in Istanbul.
The returned soldiers include members of the Armed Forces, Air Assault Forces, Navy, Territorial Defense Forces, State Border Guard Service, National Guard, and the State Special Transport Service. The Coordination Headquarters emphasized that the majority had been in captivity since 2022, with many captured during the defense of Mariupol.
Most of the freed defenders reportedly were officers, while some were under the age of 25. They had fought on multiple fronts, including the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Kursk directions. Their release marks a significant development in Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to bring its soldiers home.
The Coordination Headquarters confirmed that all released defenders will undergo comprehensive medical examinations and receive physical and psychological rehabilitation. They will also be granted the full financial compensation due for the duration of their captivity.
The defense of Mariupol in 2022 resulted in heavy losses for Ukraine, with hundreds of servicemen captured after the fall of the Azovstal plant. Since then, Ukraine has conducted multiple prisoner swaps, often focusing on those with severe injuries or health conditions, facilitated through international negotiations.
Today, there are interesting updates from the Kupiansk direction. Here, as Russian losses have officially hit an unprecedented 1 million count, the breaking point finally came, and the soldiers began turning their rifles on their own commanders rather than face certain death in futile assaults.
In a growing wave of mutiny and desertion, Russian soldiers started killing their officers, seizing vehicles, and fleeing deep into Russian territory and away from the frontline.
In one of the most brutal recent examples of growing disorder within Russian ranks, several Russian soldiers near the settlement of Nyzhnia Duvanka in the Luhansk region turned on their own.
By shooting and killing the military police platoon commander and two of his barrier troop subordinates and running away, they sparked a frantic search operation by Russian authorities.
The deserters left their comrades to lie dead on the road while fleeing to save their lives from both Ukrainian and Russian fire.
This violent mutiny did not emerge in a vacuum; it is directly tied to the hopeless bloodbath unfolding near the Kupiansk front, specifically at the Pischane funnel. For months, Russian forces have tried and failed to break through Ukrainian defenses here.
The Ukrainians have created a deadly trap by controlling the flanks, exposing any Russian assault to relentless drone and artillery fire from both sides. Yet commanders continue to send wave after wave of infantry into the funnel, hoping to drive a wedge through Ukrainian lines.
Every new wave knows exactly how it will end, as almost no one from previous groups returns alive. The systematic nature of these assaults has been likened to mass execution, with soldiers pushed forward not for tactical gain but to serve as human battering rams.
To make matters worse, Russian troops are being sent into combat in improvised Mad Max-style vehicles, like the Gaz-69, which entered production in 1952, the year of Stalin’s death, and regular cars fitted with rudimentary armor or even none.
Such improvised motorcycle squads and barely armored vehicles now lead the charge, only to be annihilated by Ukrainian FPV drones well before reaching the contact line. These desperate measures highlight not only material shortages but a total disregard for the lives of Russian troops.
Ukrainian surveillance drones ensure that almost no movement goes undetected, meaning most assaults are decimated long before they engage the defenders.
Despite the carnage, desertions in the Russian army remain surprisingly rare. The reason lies in the sheer brutality of the punishments for refusing to fight.
Soldiers who resist are subjected to medieval-style torture. Some are thrown into pits without food before being forced to fight each other to the death to earn the right to live another day.
In one documented case, soldiers were tied behind vehicles and dragged through the dirt, while other deserters were forced to bury each other alive as punishment and to serve as an example. In the Lyman area, a surrendering Russian soldier was spotted by Russian drone operators and targeted by his own artillery.
This highlights the impossible choice facing many: surrender and be killed or desert and be hunted. For some, turning against their officers seems to be the only escape.
This toxic atmosphere has bred a surge in violent retaliation. Russian soldiers, driven to the brink by the realization that dying in a pointless assault is their fate if they continue, are increasingly likely to choose to kill their commanders instead, as it is safer than being spotted attempting to surrender to the Ukrainians.
Meanwhile, commanders themselves contribute to the decay by labeling active soldiers as deserters to avoid paying their wages, denying them medical care, and forcing under-equipped men into combat.
A recent appeal by the families of men from the Russian 54th Motorized Rifle Regiment revealed horrifying conditions: soldiers were beaten and handcuffed, robbed of personal belongings, and left to die without evacuation.
Wounded men are forced to crawl back to safety, and the dead are simply abandoned, confirmed by footage showing bodies of dead Russian soldiers that haven’t been moved for months since the snow covered the fields.
The downward spiral is accelerating. Russian military losses have just surpassed one million casualties, including killed, wounded, and captured.
Equipment losses are equally staggering, with 10,000 destroyed and damaged tanks and over 20,000 armored vehicles of various types.
Lacking armor, modern vehicles, or meaningful support, commanders now rely on sheer manpower and suicidal frontal attacks to advance the line ever so slowly. But the more men are lost, the worse morale gets, and the more inclined troops are coming to view their superiors as the enemy instead of the Ukrainians they are forced to fight.
Overall, such events create a vicious cycle.
The collapse of discipline and the dehumanizing tactics employed by Russian commanders will inevitably lead to more incidents where soldiers turn their weapons on their leaders.
To prevent this, the officers are only doubling down on cruelty, inventing new, more barbaric punishments. This internal rot may not only undermine Russia’s ability to continue the war, but it could also ultimately sabotage its war effort from within.
In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
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La Ville de Rimouski et la MRC de Rimouski-Neigette ont annoncé leur intention de contester la demande de poursuite civile intentée par le Groupe immobilier Tanguay contre elles et contre 14 ex-membres du conseil d’administration de la Société de promotion économique de Rimouski (SOPER), comme le rapporte Radio-Canada.
En mai, le Groupe immobilier Tanguay a déposé une poursuite civile de près de 5 M$ qui comprenait aussi BDO Canada Limitée, en tant que syndic à la faillite de la SOPER.
L’entreprise allègue avoir subi un dommage après s’être chargée de la construction de l’immeuble du Novarium, inauguré en août 2022.
Les personnes poursuivies disposaient d’un délai de 45 jours pour contester cette action en justice. Elles pouvaient aussi des choix de convenir du règlement de l’affaire, de proposer une médiation ou de proposer la tenue d’une conférence de règlement à l’amiable.
Le bail stipule que la Société de promotion économique devait payer un loyer annuel de 675 000$ sur une période de 15 ans, en plus d’assumer les frais d’exploitation qui s’élevaient à près de 200 000$.
Dans sa demande, le Groupe immobilier Tanguay prétend « avoir été piégé » dans ce projet pour lequel il aurait reçu l’assurance qu’il n’y avait aucun autre risque que celui de la construction du bâtiment.
Radio-Canada rapporte que le Groupe immobilier Tanguay allègue que la Ville et la MRC se devaient de prendre en charge et de redresser la SOPER. Les deux parties ont plutôt agi de manière à la faire disparaître et se libérer de leurs obligations. Il prétend aussi que le sabordage de la SOPER a été orchestré.
Les ex-membres du conseil d’administration de la SOPER poursuivis sont Guy Caron, Francis St-Pierre, Rodrigue Joncas, Julie Thériault, Mélanie Beaulieu, Geneviève Landry, Nancy Morin, Marie-Michèle Bélanger, Josée Laflamme, Eve-Marie Rioux, Nicolas Horth, Marc Parent, Jean Pouliot et Camille Leblanc.
La Société de promotion économique de Rimouski a confirmé sa faillite, le 28 novembre dernier, alors que ses dettes s’élevaient à environ 4 M$. En tout, 14 personnes perdaient leur emploi.
L’information avait été dévoilée, la semaine précédente, par Le Soir.ca. Niant la nouvelle jusqu’à la conférence de presse, le président de la SOPER et maire de Rimouski, Guy Caron, avait reçu deux avis juridiques, le convainquant de prendre cette décision.
Le premier lui confirmait que la Ville n’aurait pas à assumer les dettes de la SOPER dans une éventuelle faillite. Le deuxième lui indiquait qu’elle ne pourrait pas reprendre l’édifice du Novarium, puisqu’une ville ne peut pas louer des espaces commerciaux à des particuliers.
© Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
La Défense a complété sa preuve ce vendredi matin au palais de justice de Rimouski au procès de Steeve Gagnon, accusé notamment de trois chefs de meurtre au premier degré relativement à des événements survenus le 13 mars 2023 sur le boulevard Saint-Benoît à Amqui.
La preuve de la Défense représentée par Me Hugo Caissy, du bureau de l’aide juridique à Rimouski, s’est limitée à l’audition de deux témoins : l’accusé lui-même, dont le témoignage a été pour le moins chaotique et coupé de nombreuses pauses liées au comportement de l’accusé, qui a même insulté son propre avocat, ainsi que le médecin psychiatre Samuel Gauthier.
Amorcé jeudi après-midi, le témoignage du Dr Gauthier s’est poursuivi ce vendredi matin, notamment avec le contre-interrogatoire du ministère public. Le spécialiste, qui a évalué Steeve Gagnon le 30 septembre 2024, estime que l’accusé était en mesure de comprendre les conséquences de ses actes.
Dans son rapport, le psychiatre mentionne que Steeve Gagnon était aux prises avec des idées délirantes de nature paranoïde de manière chronique, mais qu’il n’y avait pas de lien à faire avec les événements du 13 mars 2023.
Maintenant que la preuve est généralement close, le juge Louis Dionne a mentionné aux membres du jury que les plaidoiries des deux parties auront lieu ce mercredi 18 juin. Elles seront suivies des directives du juge. Si tout va bien, le jury pourrait être séquestré pour commencer à délibérer le jeudi 19 juin.
Rappelons que Steeve Gagnon fait face à trois chefs d’accusations de meurtre au premier degré (avec préméditation) et deux chefs de tentative de meurtre.
Israël Fournier, de Rivière-du-Loup, arrêté le 14 mai en lien avec une collision mortelle survenue le 31 janvier dernier sur la route 132 l’Isle-Verte, où une femme de 27 ans avait malheureusement perdu la vie, était de retour à la cour lundi dernier au palais de justice de Rivière-du-Loup, pour la tenue de son enquête sur remise en liberté, qui a été reporté au 28 juillet.
Il a comparu une première fois le 15 mai dernier.
En plus des chefs d’accusation concernant la collision mortelle, d’autres chefs ont été ajoutés à la suite d’actes de violence commis dans les jours précédents son arrestation à Rivière-du-Loup. Il fait face à des chefs de séquestration, d’extorsion et de voie de fait dans un dossier lié au crime organisé.
La tragédie avait causé la mort de Chloé Demers, qui revenait de son travail à la Fromagerie des Basques, vers 16 h 15, lorsque que la camionnette conduite par Fournier a heurté son véhicule, arrivant en sens inverse.
Il avait d’abord été arrêté pour conduites avec les facultés affaiblies.
Au moment de l’accident, les proches de Chloé Demers ont décrié l’injustice de la situation, alors qu’elle revenait à la maison pour prendre soin de ses deux jeunes enfants, âgés de 4 ans et 15 mois.
Depuis l’annonce de sa mort, les proches de Chloé décrivent l’injustice de la situation, alors qu’elle revenait à la maison pour prendre soin de ses deux jeunes enfants, âgés de 4 ans et 15 mois.
Everything was burning, death was all around — but Kharkiv remains unbroken. After a nighttime kamikaze drone attack on Kharkiv, rescuers heard an injured man singing the Ukrainian national anthem beneath the rubble of a destroyed building, says Oleksii Biloshytskyi, First Deputy Head of the Patrol Police Department.
During the night of 11 June, Russian attack drones struck residential neighborhoods in Kharkiv. Direct hits were recorded on apartment buildings and a civilian enterprise. Three people were killed, and more than 60 were injured, including children.
During the night of 11 June, Russian attack drones struck residential neighborhoods in Kharkiv. Direct hits were recorded on apartment buildings and a civilian enterprise. Three people were killed, and more than 60 were injured, including children.
A 65-year-old man, a 47-year-old woman, and another 65-year-old man who died in the hospital in the morning were among the victims of the strike. At least 60 people were wounded, among them nine children, UkrInform reports.
Oleksii Biloshytskyi described an extraordinary moment during the rescue operation.
“We pulled people from the rubble, extinguished fires burning right on people’s bodies. In that darkness, amid the dust, smoke, and pain, a man under the debris was singing the Ukrainian National Anthem. That’s something you don’t forget. That’s something you cannot forgive,” he said.
Earlier, on 7 June, Russia launched a mix of drones, guided bombs, and at least one missile on Kharkiv, killing six civilians.
One of the Shahed drones struck civilian infrastructure, causing severe destruction. Among the damaged objects was an Audi A7 that ended up at the epicenter of the explosion, writes Blik. Yet, contrary to expectations, the car not only “survived” but also started and drove away, astonishing everyone who witnessed the moment. Footage of the car instantly went viral on social media.
© Philip Cheung for The New York Times
© Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times
© Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times
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