A biology teacher became a school principal under the occupiers and received 15 years in prison

A native of the Kherson region was sentenced to 15 years in absence for collaborating with the occupiers. In 2022, he headed a Russian-controlled school, called for voting for the so-called referendum, and publicly supported the aggressor.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism with reference to the court verdict.

Oleh Burlakov, a 43-year-old resident of the village of Nova Zburyivka in the Kherson region, was found guilty of high treason for collaborating with the Russian occupiers. In 2022, he headed a school created by the invaders on the basis of the seized Novozburyivka Lyceum, where he had previously worked as a biology teacher.

Burlakov officially registered the school in the Russian Federation system under the name "Novozburievskaya school No. 1," convinced teachers to work there, and parents to send their children there. One of the witnesses saw him installing a Russian flag at the school, claiming that "Russia is here forever" and urging local residents to vote in the pseudo-referendum.

According to the court's verdict, the materials of the CJR about Burlakov's actions became one of the key pieces of evidence. In September 2022, only three of the 14 seized schools in the community were functioning, as most teachers refused to cooperate with the occupiers.

On May 29, 2025, the Uzhhorod City District Court sentenced Burlakov in absentia to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. The sentence has not yet entered into force.

Defection to the enemy is not uncommon among educators in the occupied territories. Recently, 56-year-old Anatoliy Semenov, the director of Genichesk Lyceum No. 4 in Kherson region, was found guilty of collaboration. In 2022, he gathered the staff and called them to work for the occupation administration - most of the teachers agreed, after which the Russian flag appeared over the school. The Kherson City Court sentenced Semenov to 9 years in prison in absentia with confiscation of all his property.

Also in the Kherson region, the former director of the lyceum, who collaborated with the Russian invaders during the occupation, will be tried. She forced students and staff to sing the Russian national anthem every day and participated in propaganda activities.

Анна Літман