Head of the occupation election commission of Kherson region gets 10 years in prison

The Kherson City Court has handed down a second sentence in absentia to collaborator Maryna Zakharova, who organized illegal elections of the Russian authorities in the temporarily occupied Kherson region.

According to IRS-Pivden journalists, citing the court's verdict, the 40-year-old native of Donetsk headed the Kherson region's election commission created by the occupiers in 2022.

The court found that in 2023, Zakharova organized and conducted illegal elections to the occupation "regional duma" and pseudo-local authorities in Kherson region. In addition, since December 2023, she has been preparing for the illegal elections of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the occupied territory of the region.

On May 19, 2026, the court found her guilty in absentia of collaboration in two episodes. For the totality of the crimes, Marina Zakharova was sentenced to 10 years in prison with confiscation of all property.

She was also banned for 15 years from holding positions in state authorities, local governments and structures related to the electoral process and referendums.

The sentence has not yet entered into force.

Earlier, on April 10, 2024, the Malynovskyi District Court of Odesa had already found Zakharova guilty of collaboration for holding an illegal "referendum" in Kherson region and leading the occupation election commission. The verdict has already entered into force.

Recently, in the Kherson region, a court found a resident of the region guilty of collaboration, who headed an illegal"employment service" in Skadovsk during the occupation.

Also, Yuriy Skrytskyi, who was a lawyer for the mayor of Kherson , Ihor Kolikhayev, was sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison for aiding the aggressor state .

Earlier, the Kherson City Court found Andrii Hropianov, a former master of industrial training 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.

Андрій Колісніченко