Former deputy of Kherson regional council sentenced to 10 years in prison

The court found guilty a former deputy of the Kherson Regional Council, who became one of the public faces of the invaders' propaganda during the occupation. He urged residents to support the illegal referendum and promoted decisions that helped the occupiers gain a foothold in the city.

This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations.

The investigation found that after the capture of Kherson, the man voluntarily headed the "public council" created by the occupiers, a body that was supposed to involve local residents in the activities of the Russian Federation administration. In fact, the council served as a tool to legitimize the decisions of the invaders and a platform for propaganda activities.

Under his leadership, the council helped to prepare the forum "We are together with Russia!", which the aggressor country used to prepare the campaign for the so-called referendum. After that, the accused repeatedly appeared in the Russian media, urged residents to participate in the vote and spread Russian propaganda narratives about "historical heritage", "oppression of the Russian language" and "fascism in Ukraine".

The investigation established that on September 20, 2022, the defendant publicly called for a pseudo-referendum on the "accession" of Kherson region to Russia, repeating propaganda messages about the alleged "terror from Kyiv" and "threat from NATO", claiming that residents suffer from the "Kyiv regime".

In 2024, the SBU served him with a notice of suspicion of encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which led to deaths and other serious consequences. If detained and proven guilty, he faces an additional term. The man in question is 84-year-old Volodymyr Ovcharenko, a native of Oleksandria, Kirovohrad Oblast, who had lived in Kherson for many years.

He was found guilty under Part 5 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code. He was sentenced to ten years in prison and confiscation of property: two land plots, a private house with outbuildings, an apartment and a 1991 Toyota Carina. After serving his sentence, he is banned from holding any public office or performing public functions for 15 years.

According to the Chesno movement, before the full-scale war, Ovcharenko had an active political past: in 2016, he was a trustee of parliamentary candidate Serhiy Perminov, in 2015 he ran for the Kherson Regional Council from the Union of Left Forces, and in 2010 he was elected as a deputy of the regional council from the Communist Party, where he headed the commission on budget and finance. In 2006-2007, he tried to get into the Verkhovna Rada on the CPU list, but did not receive a mandate.

From 2002 to 2007, he worked as an assistant to MP Omelian Parubko. He was a member of the Communist Party and ran the Zum Packaging Materials Plant LLC. Ovcharenko is included in the Myrotvorets database. According to media reports, in Soviet times he worked at the Kherson Shipyard, in 1973 he switched to party work and became the first secretary of the Kherson City Committee of the Communist Party. After Ukraine gained independence in 1991, he was involved in business.

The court also found 58-year-old Svitlana Mezherytska, a member of the Kherson Regional Council and former head of the Health Department of the Kherson City Council, guilty of collaboration. She was detained in March 2024.

Анна Бальчінос