Kyiv Court of Appeals has upheld the measure of restraint in the form of pretrial detention for Andriy Antonenko, the Ukrainian sergeant in Ukraine's Armed Forces and musician suspected in organizing murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet.

The Court of Appeals issued the relevant decision on Monday, thus refusing to grant the appeal of Antonenko's defense against the decision of the Pechersky District Court on choosing a preventive measure in the form of pretrial detention.

The defense of Antonenko during the meeting asked to cancel the selected preventive measure, noting the groundlessness of the evidence provided by the prosecution. According to the lawyers, there is no reason to choose any preventive measure, all the more exceptional in the form of detention.

The prosecution insisted on the validity of the decision of the trial court.

A number of members of parliament declared their readiness to post bail for Antonenko.

As reported, journalist Sheremet was killed in a car explosion in central Kyiv on July 20, 2016. The explosion occurred when Sheremet was driving a vehicle that belonged to Ukrayinska Pravda co-founder Olena Prytula, who was not in it at the time. The journalist died at the scene shortly following the bomb blast.

Three persons suspected of killing Sheremet: military nurse Yana Duhar, volunteer and children's physician Yulia Kuzmenko as well as musician and anti-terrorist operation veteran Andriy Antonenko. All have been detained. Spouses Vladyslav and Inna Hryshchenko, also members of the ATO, were detained in another case, but are defendants in the case of the murder of Sheremet.

The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv ordered the arrest of Duhar, Kuzmenko and Antonenko until February 8, 2020.