Parents of missing woman in Penza request murder investigation against three defendants in controversial terrorism case

The parents of Ekaterina Levchenko, whose disappearance might be connected to some of the individuals convicted in the so-called “Network” case, have filed an official report asking state prosecutors in the Penza region to open an investigation into the possible murder of their daughter. Tatyana and Sergey Levchenko have requested a “preliminary inquiry to resolve the issue of criminally prosecuting the ‘Network’ case defendants Mikhail Ivankin, Alexey Poltavets, and Dmitry Pchelintsev for causing the death of our daughter, Ekaterina Sergeevna Levchenko.”

The Levchenkos are asking the district attorney’s office to instruct state investigators to verify information recently reported by Meduza and to consider opening a murder investigation.

On February 21, Meduza published an investigative report (due out soon in English) about the disappearance of two young people in Penza in 2017: Artyom Dorofeyev and Ekaterina Levchenko, who were both friends with defendants in the “Network” case. After fleeing abroad, Alexey Poltavets told Meduza that he was an accomplice in the killing of Dorofeyev and Levchenko, which he says was carried out on orders from Dmitry Pchelintsev. 

Dorofeyev’s remains, discovered in 2017 in the woods outside Ryazan, showed signs of a violent death. Levchenko’s body was never found.