Ex-prosecutor from Crimea is served new suspicion of treason and collaboration

A former prosecutor from Crimea has been charged with treason and collaboration. The investigation believes that after the occupation, he voluntarily joined the illegal prosecutor's office and helped the Russians assert control over the peninsula.

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

The Security Service of Ukraine handed over an updated and additional suspicion to Roman Dugarenko, a former Ukrainian prosecutor who, after the occupation of the peninsula, voluntarily joined the so-called Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Crimea as part of the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation.

According to the investigation, in March 2014, Natalia Poklonskaya, who was then the head of the occupation body, offered Dugarenko to stay in the service, but under the control of the Russian Federation. He started working in the illegal structure and followed the orders of the so-called leadership of the prosecutor's office.

In particular, from March to August 2014, he held the position of prosecutor in the department for representation of citizens and the state in the courts of the prosecutor's office of Simferopol. After that, he continued to work in the prosecutor's office of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied Crimea, which, according to the investigation, helped the enemy to establish illegal power.

The SBU emphasized that his actions contributed to the creation and strengthening of illegal law enforcement agencies, which became part of the Kremlin's strategy to occupy Crimea. According to the special service, such actions have allowed Russia to maintain control over the peninsula for more than a decade.

Currently, Dugarenko is charged with two crimes at once:

• High treason (Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), i.e. assisting a foreign state in subversive activities against Ukraine;
  
• Collaboration (Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) - namely, voluntarily taking a position in illegal law enforcement agencies in the occupied territory.

If proven guilty, he faces up to 15 years in prison or life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

Also, a Crimean ex-minister and former deputy of the Simferopol City Council was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison with confiscation of property for treason. He promoted Russian propaganda and helped to adjust the media space of Crimea to the laws of the Russian Federation. The commander of the unit that facilitated the occupation of the peninsula will also stand trial. He is charged with treason and encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Анна Бальчінос