Former Chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea called for the occupation of Odesa and may be imprisoned for 12 years

The former chairman of the Supreme Council of Crimea was notified of suspicion for calling for war against Ukraine and propaganda of Russian aggression. He faces up to 12 years in prison on several charges, including collaboration and justification of the occupation.

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

One of the heads of the occupation administration in Crimea is suspected of publicly calling for an aggressive war against Ukraine. He is the former chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the ARC, who has been heading the so-called "State Council of the Republic of Crimea" since 2014.

According to the investigation, in 2023, he publicly supported the armed aggression of the Russian Federation on the air of the pro-Russian TV channel Millet. In his statements, he called the occupation of Crimea "the restoration of justice," justified the war with narratives of "denazification" and called for the seizure of new Ukrainian territories, including Odesa and Kharkiv.

He is charged with several articles of the Criminal Code, including public calls for changing the borders of Ukraine, collaboration, propaganda for war, and glorification of armed aggression through the media. For these actions, he faces up to 12 years in prison.

The suspect is subject to international sanctions imposed by the United States, the EU, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and other countries. The investigation is being conducted by the National Police Investigation Department in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

Although the suspicion does not name the official, the media reports that since March 2014, the Russian parliament in Crimea has been chaired by Vladimir Konstantinov. Prior to the occupation of the peninsula, he was the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Also, the former Minister of Education of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea will be tried for high treason for cooperating with the occupation authorities after the annexation of the peninsula. She was involved in the implementation of Russian educational standards and was involved in the liquidation of Ukrainian schools. The investigation found that since 2001, Goncharova had worked in educational institutions of Ukraine, and in 2012 she became the Minister of Education, Science, Youth and Sports of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. After the occupation in 2014, she joined the occupiers.

Анна Бальчінос