Former MP from Kherson region sentenced to 13 years for guarding prisoners

The former MP from Kherson region was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison for collaboration. During the occupation, he voluntarily went to work as a security guard in a penal colony in Kherson created by the Russians.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.

Viktor Yasynskyi, 50, from the village of Novomykolayivka in the Novotroyitska community of the Henichesk district of Kherson region, was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison for collaboration.

According to the Uzhhorod City District Court of Zakarpattia region, on June 7, 2022, Yasynsky got a job as a junior inspector of the 2nd category of the security department in the illegally created "Northern Correctional Colony No. 90" subordinated to the occupation department of the Russian Penitentiary Service in Kherson. He was awarded the rank of "private of the internal service". In the colony, he monitored compliance with the regime of detention of convicts, was on duty on the towers and controlled the daily routine of the prisoners.

Witnesses in court confirmed that Yasinsky came to work in a Russian uniform and had a Kalashnikov assault rifle, with which he went on duty every two days. In the fall of 2022, the man moved to Henichesk, where he continued to serve the occupiers in the same position.

During the investigation, one of the witnesses said that while cleaning the colony's utility rooms, he found employment documents, including salary records and a list of personnel, which included Yasynskyi's name. These documents became evidence of his guilt. The verdict states that he had no relation to the colony before the occupation.

The court found him guilty under Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("Collaboration activities") and sentenced him to 13 years in prison with confiscation of all property. He will be deprived of a 0.12-hectare land plot, a 61.9-square-meter residential building and a garden house. In addition, after his release, Yasinsky will be banned from holding positions in government or law enforcement agencies for 11 years.

According to YouControl, in 2010, Yasynskyi was elected as a deputy of the Novomykolayivka village council from the Party of Regions, and in 2015, he was elected as a deputy of the Novotroitsk district council from the Local Self-Government Party. In the 2020 elections, he ran for the Servant of the People party, but to no avail. Before the occupation, the man was non-partisan and unemployed, having previously worked as an electrician at Ukrtelecom and as a security guard at Dnipro-Bilohiria LLC. In 2016, he briefly had the status of an individual entrepreneur with activities in the field of crop production. In the summer of 2025, Viktor Yasynskyi was put on the wanted list.

The Kherson resident was also sentenced to imprisonment for cooperating with the occupation authorities in the colony. According to eyewitnesses, the man openly bragged about his work, showed his Russian service certificate and told his friends about his working conditions and salary in rubles. In court, he tried to justify himself, claiming that he had agreed to work for the occupiers only because of financial difficulties.

Анна Бальчінос