A tax inspector in the Kherson region was sentenced to prison for collaborating with the occupiers

A former tax inspector from the Kherson region was convicted of collaborating with the Russian occupation authorities. In addition to a prison sentence, he was barred from holding positions in government agencies, and his property will be confiscated.

The verdict was handed down by the Uzhhorod City and District Court in Zakarpattia Oblast. 

The defendant is a native of Skadovsk. Prior to the full-scale invasion, he had worked for a long time in Ukrainian tax agencies, notably holding leadership positions in the Kherson region’s tax service.

According to the case file, in the summer of 2022, following the occupation of Kherson, he voluntarily took a position as an inspector with the so-called Kherson Regional Office of the Russian Federal Tax Service.

This agency began operating in July 2022 in the premises of the Ukrainian tax service in Kherson, and in the fall it was registered in the Russian registry of legal entities.

According to the prosecution, the man conducted on-site tax audits, analyzed their results, and imposed financial penalties on those who violated the rules established by the occupying authorities.

The court examined the testimony of three of the man’s former colleagues. They stated that they knew him from his work at the Ukrainian Tax Service, and that after the occupation, he remained in the occupied territory and, to their knowledge, continued to work at the tax agency established by the Russians.

The defendant himself did not appear at the court hearings. He was placed on the wanted list, and the case was heard in absentia—with the participation of a state-appointed attorney.

The court found the man guilty of collaboration under Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

He was sentenced to:

• 15 years of imprisonment;
• a 12-year ban on holding certain positions in state and local government bodies;
• confiscation of all property belonging to him as personal property.

The prison term will be counted from the date of the man’s actual arrest. 

Ірина Глухова