A former deputy director of a company in the Kherson region is facing trial for stealing grain for Russia

Following the occupation, some of the leadership of one of the largest state-owned agricultural enterprises in the Kherson region continued to work under Russian control. Now, one of the former officials is set to stand trial for collaborating with the aggressor state and stealing grain.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

The Novovorontsov District Court in Kherson Oblast will hear the case of 59-year-old Oleksandr Knyazev, who is accused of aiding the aggressor state through his work as the head of the occupied state-owned enterprise “Askaniyske Experimental Farm.” The hearing is scheduled for August 8. Back in September 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) notified him of the charges in absentia. The offense carries a sentence of up to 12 years in prison.

According to the investigation, in December 2022, Knyazev—who had served as the farm’s first deputy director prior to the occupation—agreed to head the seized enterprise. In this role, he organized its operations in accordance with Russian law, implemented the decisions of the occupying administration, and facilitated the transfer of material resources and property to representatives of the aggressor state.

As reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism, Knyazev replaced Stanislav Sheremet in this position. According to employees of the state-owned enterprise “Askaniyanske Agricultural Enterprise,” after the enterprise’s director, Viktor Naidyonov, refused to cooperate with the Russian occupiers and left for territory controlled by Ukraine, part of the management quickly changed its stance and began supporting the “Russian World.”

Employees also claimed that in 2022, the Russian military transported the farm’s harvest by truck to the Partizany railway station, from where the grain was shipped to occupied Crimea and the Russian Federation.

Prior to the full-scale invasion, the state-owned “Askaniyanske Agricultural Enterprise” cultivated approximately 10,000 hectares of land, employed nearly 350 people, and produced up to 23,000 metric tons of grain annually.

In June, the occupying head of the Kherson region,Volodymyr Saldo, received yetanother in absentia sentence from a Ukrainian court. He was found guilty of a war crime for organizing the seizure of the Kherson Bread Products Plant and the illegal export of thousands of metric tons of grain.

Анна Бальчінос