Deputy Head of BES in Odesa exposed for business ties with occupiers

The deputy head of the BES was detained in Odesa region for cooperation with the aggressor state. He owned a business in the occupied Luhansk region that paid taxes to the Russian budget.

This was reported by the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office.

Under the procedural supervision of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office and jointly with investigators of the SBU Office in the region, the deputy head of the territorial department of the Bureau of Economic Security in Odesa region was exposed, who is suspected of aiding the aggressor state (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, the official is a co-founder of an enterprise that has been operating in Luhansk region since 2013. After the beginning of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation, he not only retained his share in the business, but also continued to receive profits from the company, which is now operating in the temporarily occupied territory. The company pays taxes to the budget of the Russian Federation and actually finances the military aggression against Ukraine.

Detention of the deputy head of the BES in Odesa. PHOTO: gp.gov.ua

The company's official website contains calls to support the Russian military and links to resources for raising funds for the needs of the occupation forces.

Along with the official, his accomplice, a businessman from Dnipro who owns a stake in the same company, was detained. Both were served a notice of suspicion. The issue of choosing a measure of restraint in the form of detention is currently being decided.

Also recently, the SBU military counterintelligence detained an associate professor at a local university in Odesa, who is suspected of collaborating with the Russian FSB. During the search, they found tickets to one of the EU countries, from where the woman planned to travel to the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, the 52-year-old lecturer attracted the attention of the special services when she publicly called for the seizure of Odesa region in a banned social network.

Анна Бальчінос