Kharkiv city resident Olena Zaitseva, the driver of the Lexus sedan that on October 18 ran over pedestrians, killing five of them, in the center of Kharkiv was under the influence of opiates when the accident took place.

Prosecutor Maksym Blokhin during an arraignment hearing in Kharkiv's Kyiv District Court said the findings are borne out from results of a physical examination of Zaitseva.

Blokhin asked that the exam results be included into case documents.

Defense lawyer Yulia Kozyr said the exam results are "total rubbish," claiming her client was "absolutely sober" at the time of the accident. She said Zaitseva was forced to give urine and blood samples to investigators.

Investigators said urine samples can only be taken in a narcotics laboratory.

As earlier reported, on October 18 during the evening at the intersection of Sumska St and Mechnykova St in Kharkiv a Lexus RX sedan driven by Zaitseva, born 1997, ran a red light and crashed into a Volkswagen Touareg. As a result of the accident, the Lexus ran over 11 pedestrians on the sidewalk, five of whom died (four girls and a young man).

The accident is being investigated pursuant to Part 3 of Article 286 (driving infractions leading to the death of persons) of Ukraine's Criminal Code. The maximum prison sentence the crime is a ten-year prison term.