Ex-minister of the occupiers deported children from Kherson region to Russia

The court found Alla Barkhatnova, the former "minister" of labor and social policy of the occupation administration of Kherson region, guilty of collaboration. The woman, who worked for the Russian authorities, was involved not only in building the occupation administration system but also in the deportation of Ukrainian children.

This was reported by Intent with reference to the verdict of the Kherson City Court.

According to the case file, after the capture of Kherson, Barkhatnova voluntarily took a leadership position in the illegally created occupation body. At first, she headed the so-called "Department of Labor and Social Policy of the Kherson Region" and then served as the "Minister of Labor and Social Policy of the Kherson Regional State Administration". She coordinated social payments according to Russian rules, signed financial documents, personnel orders, instructions, etc.

Eyewitness testimony played a special role in the case. Former social workers told the court that in the summer of 2022, the woman came to institutions, offered people to go to work for the occupiers, and told them to give schoolchildren 10,000 rubles in aid. According to witnesses, there were Russian symbols, flags and a portrait of Putin in the official's office, and the institution itself was guarded by the Russian military. After the retreat of the racists, she and other representatives of the occupation administration were evacuated to Genichesk.

Law enforcement officers pay special attention to her involvement with Ukrainian children in the occupied territories. According to intelligence, she was involved in the illegal deportation of children and their ideological "re-education" under the control of Russian structures.

The convict's family connection adds additional resonance to the case. According to the Center for Investigative Journalism, Alla Barkhatnova is the wife of Yevhen Orlov, a former official from the occupied part of Donetsk region who is associated with the seizure of Ukrainian enterprises in the occupied Kherson region. In particular, he is accused of participating in the looting of warehouses, the appointment of new "managers" and the organization of the work of companies taken from their rightful owners, including the well-known food producer Chumak in Kakhovka.

According to Evocation.info, Barkhatnova was born on September 25, 1973, in the village of Kalinino, Oryol region. She graduated from high school in Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast, and studied at the All-Union Research Institute for Automation of Metrology in Moscow Oblast, specializing in economics and planning.

She worked in business, accounting and trade, and later as a deputy director and director of commercial enterprises. In 2010-2014, she ran a private business selling agricultural machinery, and later worked as chief accountant and commercial director.

She was sentenced to 10 years in prison with confiscation of all property. The apartment has already been confiscated to the state.

The SBU also served a notice of suspicion of collaboration to Olena Kirillova, the acting Minister of Sports of the occupation administration of Kherson region.

Анна Бальчінос