Former MP became an investigator under the occupiers in Kherson region

The former MP from Kherson region became an investigator for the occupiers and spied on his fellow countrymen. The court sentenced him to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

This is evidenced by the verdict of the Ternopil City District Court.

In 2022, the former deputy of the Kakhovka City Council joined the service of the Russian occupiers. He headed the investigative bodies in Kakhovka and Nova Kakhovka, handed over pro-Ukrainian countrymen to the invaders, terrorized local residents, and demanded that doctors provide patient data.

According to the SBU, in July 2022, he was appointed an "investigator" in the so-called occupation "people's police" of Kakhovka, and later - "senior investigator of the Novokakhovka police department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Kherson region."

According to media reports, this is Ivan Korotko. The court found that the man illegally interrogated city council employees, demanded that the Pankeyevs' hospital transfer patient data, translate documents from Ukrainian into Russian, and assisted the occupiers in persecuting pro-Ukrainian citizens. He also forced local entrepreneurs to register their businesses under Russian rules and pay taxes to the occupiers.

According to one of the witnesses, the defendant always had pro-Russian views, as he missed the Soviet Union, and at city council sessions, when the issue of allocating funds to the ATO participants was considered, he condemned both the ATO and Maidan.

According to the investigation, he was conducting an "investigation" into thefts, hooliganism and misappropriation of funds at the Tavria children's and youth sports school. Witnesses confirmed that he often appeared in uniform, with a gun and white armbands, boasting of his position in the "people's police" and forcing people to cooperate with the occupiers.

The court found Korotkyi guilty in absentia of collaboration under Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of all property, including his apartment.

Previously, he worked as a lawyer at the Kakhovka Electric Welding Equipment Plant, held the position of chief specialist of the Department of Economics and Communal Property of the Kakhovka City Council for several years, was a city council member from the Opposition Bloc and director of the Kakhovka City Center for Social Services.

The court also found 58-year-old Svitlana Mezherytska, a member of the Kherson Regional Council and former head of the city's health department, guilty of collaborating with the occupiers. She was detained in March 2024.

Анна Бальчінос