Mykola Kaznacheiev arrived in Ireland from Ukraine’s Donetsk region in 2022 after serving two prison sentences totalling 21 years in his native country. Three years later, he kicked a former partner in the groin, threw her to the ground, kicked her repeatedly and threatened to break her legs and cut off her head. The victim was left with concussion, bruising, a broken rib and continuing fear.
A record measured in decades
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was given records of two previous convictions in Ukraine. Kaznacheiev received a seven-year sentence in 1998 and a 14-year sentence in 2008. The court described the record as a significant history of violence, but the precise offences were not stated in open court. This file does not speculate about them.
Defence counsel said Kaznacheiev came to Ireland from Donetsk in 2022 after his home was destroyed during the war. He lived in State-provided accommodation and worked in factories and as a heavy-machinery mechanic. The duration and cost of that accommodation were not reported and are not estimated here.
The workplace attack
Kaznacheiev met the victim on a dating app in November 2023. Their relationship ended in April 2025, although she continued to assist him financially. On 19 June 2025 he approached her outside her Dublin workplace, blamed her for his homelessness, demanded money and kicked her in the groin without warning.
Later that day, as she tried to return some of his clothes, Kaznacheiev attempted to open her locked car and again demanded money. He threatened to break her legs and cut off her head. He threw her to the ground, kicked her at least four times and forced keys from her hand, injuring her finger. He returned to the workplace the next day and became aggressive before Gardaí were called.
The victim sustained concussion, bruising and a broken rib. The sentencing judge recorded continuing fear, anxiety and distress, and described the public attack as degrading and humiliating.
Guilty pleas and sentence
Kaznacheiev pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and criminal damage to the woman’s sunglasses. Judge Elma Sheahan selected a seven-year headline sentence and imposed five and a half years after taking account of his admissions, apology, plea and personal circumstances. The sentence was backdated to June 2025, when he entered custody. A ten-year no-contact order was also imposed.
Those are concluded convictions and orders. No allegation is presented here as a conviction.
The deportation proposal was not the sentence
Defence counsel asked the court to suspend part of the term if Kaznacheiev consented to deportation and return to Ukraine, saying he was willing to return in lieu of prison and assist his country. The judge instead imposed the five-and-a-half-year custodial term. The located record does not report that a deportation order was made, and consent offered by the defence is not the same thing as an enforceable removal order.
Cost benchmark
Five and a half years at the Irish Prison Service 2024 average of €99,072 per available staffed prison space produces a gross scale benchmark of approximately €544,896. This is not an invoice or an audited marginal cost. It excludes Garda investigation, prosecution, courts, legal aid, healthcare, victim services and any State-provided accommodation before custody.
Questions the State should answer
- What information about the two Ukrainian convictions was available to Irish authorities when Kaznacheiev arrived in 2022?
- Did any lawful vetting or information-sharing process identify his reported history of violence?
- What risk assessment, if any, followed his move into State-provided accommodation?
- Did the Department of Justice consider the defence’s stated consent to deportation after sentence?
- What protection and support have been provided to the victim during the ten-year no-contact period?