A resident of the Kherson region was sent to a pretrial detention center for calling for the seizure of Odesa

A court has imposed a pretrial restriction on a resident of the Kherson region who is suspected of justifying Russia’s armed aggression. Investigators claim that he praised Russian military personnel and called for the occupation of Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Odesa.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

According to the investigation, the Kherson region resident regularly posted pro-Russian comments in public chat rooms from his Telegram account. The man wrote that Kherson would allegedly not be liberated, and that Henichesk would become the region’s new capital. Investigators view these statements as justifying Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.

Law enforcement officials also believe that he incited ethnic hatred. According to their information, in his posts, the man used offensive language toward Ukrainians and shared messages that, according to experts, degraded the Ukrainian nation and incited ethnic hatred.

Among the evidence in the case are comments in which the man wrote that Russian troops should capture Mykolaiv andOdesa to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea, and he also called for Kherson to be brought back under Russian control as soon as possible. In addition, investigators documented other posts in which the man openly supported Russia, glorified the country and its president, and expressed dissatisfaction that the occupying forces had failed to recapture Kherson.

During the trial, the man pleaded guilty. He and his defense attorney asked the judge not to send him to a pretrial detention center but to impose house arrest or reduce the bail amount.

However, the judge took into account the severity of the alleged crimes, the fact that the man had no official job, and that he was living off his mother and brother, who reside in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea. As a result, the court remanded him in custody.

Also in June, a resident of Kherson suspected of supporting the Russian occupation and the illegal referendum in the fall of 2022 was placed under arrest.

Анна Бальчінос