Former member of Kherson executive committee sentenced to 10 years in prison

One of the local officials went from the offices of the Kherson City Council to senior positions in the occupation authorities. The former member of the executive committee and Saldo 's associate was sentenced for collaboration.

This is evidenced by the verdict of the Kherson City Court.

According to the investigation, in April 2022, Igor Telegin voluntarily agreed to cooperate with representatives of the aggressor state. He took up the position of the so-called "Head of the Department of Internal and Foreign Policy of the Military-Civilian Administration of the Kherson Region".

Already in June 2022, after the reorganization of the occupation structures, the collaborator was promoted and became the "Deputy Head of the Department of Domestic and Foreign Policy". In 2023, he ran for the so-called "Kherson Regional Duma" from the United Russia party and became a "deputy".

Subsequently, Telegin headed the Committee on Social Policy, Health, Education, Culture and Sports in the occupied Duma. In this position, he participated in the development and implementation of regulations of the occupation authorities, as well as actively worked with the population, promoted pro-Russian narratives and discredited the Ukrainian authorities.

In court, one of the witnesses said that in early March 2022, Telegin offered him to join Saldo 's team and take positions in occupier-controlled structures. According to the witness, the defendant openly demonstrated a pro-Russian position and repeatedly tried to engage him in cooperation, but was refused. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia with full confiscation of property. He is currently being held in Genichesk.

According to the Kherson-based MOST, before the full-scale invasion, he headed the organization of the Ukrainian Union of Afghanistan Veterans, but among veterans he was considered an impostor because of his use of awards that did not exist. Over the years, Telegin also worked in the city executive committee, was involved in the transportation business, and later moved into the field of film production.

In 2020, he headed the regional organization of the Volodymyr Saldo Bloc party and participated in the election campaign for the city council, as well as worked at the headquarters. During the occupation, he was also involved in the militarization of children. In August 2022, he was assassinated in Kherson, where he was injured and concussed but survived.

In February, Volodymyr Saldo, who already has a conviction for high treason, was served with a new suspicion. Along with him, 11 other people associated with the activities of the illegal armed group were suspected.

Анна Бальчінос