Kherson region resident arrested for armed raids and squeezing property

During the occupation of a part of Kherson region, a Russian citizen who lived in the village of Bekhtery became the face of the new government. He actually built their regime in the village, from putting pressure on businesses to participating in a pseudo-referendum.

This is evidenced by the decision of the Central District Court of Mykolaiv.

According to the investigation, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the man deliberately cooperated with the Russian army. No later than March 2022, he reached an agreement with the Russian military and agreed to lead the village on their behalf - under the cover of the so-called administration.

In fact, he became a village head under the occupiers and began to build new orders: he forced local businesses to switch to rubles, demanded that businesses be re-registered under Russian law, and openly promoted the integration of the village into the Russian system.

Witnesses say that he came to entrepreneurs with ready-made instructions on how to work under the new rules. Those who had doubts were persuaded while accompanied by armed Russian soldiers.

One of the most illustrative episodes is the story of a car. At the end of September 2022, the man, along with about 15 armed Russians, came to take away a Mercedes that belonged to the legitimate village head. That was the first time he publicly introduced himself as the new village head.

Another witness said that as early as May 2022, the suspect came to farmers with documents from the occupation administration and demanded that they re-register their farms according to Russian rules and register with the Russian tax authorities.

In the fall of 2022, he was already directly helping to organize the pseudo-referendum. According to eyewitnesses, the man personally carried the ballot box from house to house, while other people carried the ballots. All this was happening under the control of the armed Russian military.

At the same time, he was engaged in "social work" on behalf of the occupiers - he distributed firewood and coal to local residents as alleged humanitarian aid from Russia.

Also, according to the investigation, the man, together with the Russian military, participated in raids in the village: they were looking for people who did not support the occupation authorities, conducted searches and put pressure on the locals. In the occupier-controlled media, he acted as a "village head" and publicly promoted the new government.

Now the man has been notified of suspicion of encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. He is currently hiding in the occupied territory, and his exact location is unknown. The court imposed on him a pre-trial restraint in the form of detention without bail. If he is detained, he should be brought to court no later than 48 hours later.

Also in April, in Kherson, a couple was put on trial for activities that could directly harm the city's defense. According to the investigation, while the woman was collecting coordinates of the Ukrainian Armed Forcespositions, the man was simultaneously promoting pro-Russian narratives online.

Анна Бальчінос