Businessman from Kherson region helped Russian counterintelligence with equipment

An entrepreneur from Kherson region helped the Russian military and illegal armed groups during the temporary occupation. He supplied resources and maintained equipment used against Ukrainian defenders and local residents.

This is evidenced by the verdict of the Vinnytsia City Court.

According to the investigation, the man registered as an individual entrepreneur with the so-called "tax service of the Kherson region" created by the occupiers. This allowed him to legally provide resources for the work of the illegal armed group, the State Security Service of Kherson Region.

This formation performed counterintelligence, reconnaissance and "filtration activities," including the persecution of Ukrainian defenders and local residents who did not agree with the occupation.

In 2023, the man signed a contract for more than 618 thousand Russian rubles. For this money, he purchased spare parts and materials, as well as maintained 26 vehicles of the formation, which were used to support his activities and "operational and combat measures" against Ukrainian citizens. The court emphasized that the man was aware that he was helping the aggressor state to harm Ukraine.

The court sentenced him to 12 years in prison and a 15-year ban on holding positions in government and law enforcement agencies and doing business. All his assets and property are subject to confiscation. The sentence begins from the moment of his arrest.

It turned out that this is not the first sentence for a businessman. It is about 32-year-old Yevhen Maslakivskyi. In March last year, he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison with confiscation of property for collaborating with the Russian occupiers.

Since 2016, he has been engaged in car repair and maintenance in Genichesk. In May 2023, he signed a contract with the so-called Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kherson region for vehicle maintenance and received more than 1.2 million rubles. On June 1 and August 28, 2023, he signed agreements with the illegal enterprise Kherson Avtodor and earned more than 430 thousand rubles. The man also provided services to the occupation prosecutor's office, receiving almost 175 thousand rubles for two contracts on June 27 and December 25, 2023.

At the end of January 2024, he signed two more contracts with the occupation prosecutor's office for 522 thousand rubles, and partially fulfilled them. Witnesses in court said that he openly supported Russia's actions, wore a military uniform and repaired cars for the Russian military.

As the Center for Public Investigations wrote, before the full-scale invasion, he was engaged in business, participating in public tenders in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. He received the last contract on May 24, 2022, from the State Joint Stock Company Chornomornaftogaz.

Анна Бальчінос