A railway worker from Kherson region helped the occupiers to establish communication with Russia and Crimea

Following a public prosecution by prosecutors of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office, the court found a 60-year-old resident of the region guilty of aiding the aggressor state. It was proved that the man actively cooperated with the occupation authorities during the seizure of part of the region, for which he was brought to justice under Part 1 of Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

This was reported by the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office.

The court's verdict is the result of systematic work by law enforcement officers to identify and punish people involved in collaboration activities in the temporarily occupied territories. The court sentenced him to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property. The convict was also deprived of the right to hold positions in government, local government and law enforcement agencies for 15 years.

Prosecutors proved in court that in May 2022, during the occupation of Kherson, the man voluntarily headed the 'signaling and communication distance' at the illegally created Kherson Railway enterprise. It was established that he personally seized control over the buildings of the institution, forced employees to go over to the enemy and formed the staff of the unit according to Russian standards. Under his leadership, fiber-optic communication lines were restored, which allowed the occupiers to establish a railroad connection between the occupied Kherson region, Crimea and Russia to transfer resources.

In addition, after the de-occupation of the city, it turned out that with the assistance of the convict, the company's equipment and vehicles were stolen: some were transferred to other units of the Russian army, and others were taken away during the retreat. The sentence has been passed in absentia; the sentence will begin from the moment the collaborator is actually detained.

Катерина Глушко