The Mladá Garda student dormitory in Bratislava, where Ukrainian student Mariia was found dead on June 3, 2022. (source: STU)
One week after the death of a Ukrainian university student in a Bratislava dormitory, the police have charged a fellow student with murder.
Mariia, 21, was found dead in a room at the Mladá Garda dormitory in Bratislava on Friday, June 3. She had been studying at the Slovak University of Technology, to which the dormitory belongs. It was a friend from Ukraine who discovered Mariia’s dead body, saying that had gone to check on her after she had failed to answer her phone.
Her death was initially thought to be suicide or the result of health problems. However, the friend and schoolmate who reported her death, identified by police only as Volodymyr, aged 22, has since confessed to the killing.
Unknown motive
Volodymyr, who is also Ukrainian, is alleged to have choked Mariia to death on June 2, the police stated. Earlier, it was believed that he had only found her body and called for help.
It was the suspect himself who approached officers on Wednesday, June 8, to admit to the murder, the police added. His motive remains unknown.
On Friday, June 10, the police brought Volodymyr to the dormitory, under arrest, to reconstruct the murder.
If convicted, he faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
