Head of HR department of Kherson state institution sentenced to 5 years

After the liberation of Kherson, lists of employees who had agreed to work for the Russians were found in the offices of the occupation "water department". Among the management was the head of the HR department, who helped the occupiers form the staff of the institution.

This is evidenced by the verdict of the Khadzhybeyskyi District Court of Odesa.

The head of the HR department of the Lower Dnipro Basin Water Resources Administration was found guilty of collaborating with the occupation authorities during the seizure of Kherson. The investigation established that after the arrival of Russian troops, she took a similar position in the "Kherson Region Water Resources Basin Administration" created by the invaders, where she was in charge of personnel issues and registration of employees.

In court, the former employees said that in the summer of 2022, the management announced that the company had come under Russian control. Anyone who agreed to work in the new structure was sent to the HR department headed by the defendant. Employees who refused to cooperate with the occupiers wrote letters of resignation.

Witnesses also stated that the woman went around the offices and handed out application forms for transferring to the Russian company. According to them, it was in her office that employment documents were drawn up, and lists of people were compiled to receive one-time financial assistance of 10 thousand rubles.

After the liberation of Kherson, the employees found lists of people who remained to work for the occupation administration. In the documents, the defendant was listed as the head of a department with a salary of about 100 thousand rubles.

Before the de-occupation of the city, the woman left for the temporarily occupied territory. The prosecutor's office claimed that she was evacuated as an employee of the Russian government. She later returned to Ukraine through European countries, and in April 2023, she was notified of being suspected.

During the trial, the woman explained that she was unable to leave Kherson at the beginning of the occupation due to lack of money. She claimed that she agreed to work in the occupation structure only to earn money to leave. According to her, she planned to leave through Crimea, where her sister lives, and then return to Ukraine. She also stated that before the Russians retreated, the occupation authorities ordered all employees to leave the city.

After her detention, the woman partially admitted her guilt, but denied it completely during the trial. She insisted that she continued to work for the Ukrainian company and kept in touch with the management in Kyiv. As a result, she was sentenced to five years in prison.

The court also found Andrii Hropianov, a former vocational training instructor at the Kherson Professional Lyceum of Communications and Printing, guilty of collaboration and aiding the enemy. In 2022, he headed an educational institution illegally established by the occupiers in occupied Kherson.

Анна Бальчінос