He was tortured and shot by militants of the pro-Russian militia organization of the Donetsk People's Republic for his pro-Ukrainian position.
In April 2014, when Russian backed Donetsk People Republic militants seized the city, their mother drove Stepan to her parents in Russia, but a month later he returned, declaring that he did not want to hide "like a rat" in times difficult for the country.
Stepan's mother, Stalina Vyacheslavivna, was told by the DPR authorities that her son's killers had been caught, but two of them managed to escape to the occupied Crimea.
I demand that the Prosecutor General's Office immediately send a warrant to Kramatorsk and further the necessary materials to the Crimea for Pogodin's extradition to Ukraine.
If the necessary actions are not taken within a day, I will be forced to turn to the Ukrainian and foreign press and start a protest near the walls of the Prosecutor General's Office.
Pogodin, a former commander of the Kerch Battalion, and his militants Moskalyov, and Sukhomlinov were sentenced to life in prison in absentia.
The court also upheld a civil lawsuit filed by Stalina Chubenko, according to which each of the convicts must pay ₴1 million in compensation.
115 (premeditated murder of a kidnapped person, committed by a group of persons with prior conspiracy) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, a number of forensic examinations were conducted and comprehensive evidence of militants' guilt in the audacious and brutal murder of a young man was collected,” said Donetsk Region Prosecutor Yevhen Bondarenko.
[19][20] Since 2019 publishing house Tempora [uk] holds a yearly children literary competition named after Stepan Chubenko.
Chubenko was depicted in full length with a ball in his hands, in the form of a team with the emblem of the Kramatorsk football club "Avangard" and with the first number.