Judge from Crimea charged with war crime

The SBU has served a notice of suspicion to a Ukrainian citizen who has been working as a "judge" in Russian-controlled structures since the occupation of Crimea. According to the investigation, she is involved in the persecution of Ukrainians and forcing them to serve in the army of the aggressor state.

This is evidenced by the suspicion of the Prosecutor General's Office.

The Main Investigation Department of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea has served a notice of suspicion to Natalia Kvetkina, who took up the position of a "judge" in the occupied peninsula. The investigation found that no later than July 2015, she started working in the illegally established Kerch City Court, and at the end of 2018, she was appointed by a presidential decree to the position of "judge" of the Zaliznychny District Court of Simferopol.

According to law enforcement officials, in 2024, Kvetkina was considering a case against a Ukrainian citizen born in 2005, whom the occupation authorities accused of evading service in the Russian army. After the annexation, the man lived in Crimea, but in 2023 he was forced to mobilize. A criminal case was opened against him for failing to appear when called upon.

By the decision of the so-called judge, the young man was fined 20 thousand rubles. Fearing further persecution, he left Crimea and traveled through Russia and Belarus to the territory controlled by Ukraine.

Investigators believe that the suspect's actions contributed to the implementation of the occupying power's policy of forcibly recruiting local residents to serve in the Russian army, which is a violation of international humanitarian law. She was charged with collaboration and war crimes.

At the same time, it is known that before the occupation of Crimea, Kvetkina was on the lists of candidates for the position of judge in Ukraine, was trained at the National School of Judges and was associated with the Ministry of Culture of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The occupation authorities of Crimea also began preparing the infrastructure for future conscription campaigns. It is planned to involve conscripts in work at enterprises and institutions.

Thus, the occupation administration is forming a complete mechanism of control over people of conscription age - from military service to alternative service, which allows the residents of the peninsula to work for the needs of the occupation system even if they refuse to serve in the army.

Анна Бальчінос