Minister of Culture of Kherson region under the occupation was sentenced to 10 years

The occupying Minister of Culture of Kherson region was sentenced to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property. He collaborated with Russians and was involved in the looting of museums.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.

The Kherson City Court sentenced 33-year-old Artem Lahoysky, better known by the nickname "Cattle," to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property in absentia. He held the position of the occupation Minister of Culture of Kherson region and actively cooperated with the Russian invaders.

According to the investigation, in 2022, Lahoisky voluntarily joined the occupation administration, becoming the so-called Deputy Minister of Culture, and was later promoted. He organized propaganda events in support of Russian holidays, "Saturday clean-ups," and spoke at rallies in Kherson during the distribution of Russian passports.

In addition to propaganda, he is accused of participating in the cultural robbery of the region. Together with Russian officers, the defendant stole the ashes of Grigory Potemkin from Kherson before the occupiers fled, and also facilitated the removal of collections from museums in Kherson in the fall of 2022.

The court found him guilty of collaboration under Part 5 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In addition to imprisonment, he is banned from holding any positions in government, state or municipal institutions for another 15 years after serving his sentence. The sentence has not yet entered into force.

Prior to collaborating with the occupiers, he worked as a lecturer at the Department of Economics at Kherson State University and headed the teaching and methodological laboratory of social disciplines at the local academy of continuing education. On the Internet, he was known as a blogger under the nickname "Bidlo," had his own YouTube channel and a page on Russian social media.

Kherson City Council member Kostyantyn Syvak was also notified of being suspected of treason: he is accused of transferring boats and boats of state inspection to the occupiers for more than UAH 4 million, which allegedly helped subversive activities against Ukraine.

Анна Бальчінос