Montenegrin sand and gowns for judges: ex-border guard caught in Kherson for treason

In Kherson, a former prosecutor was served with a notice of suspicion for his involvement in the creation of an illegal judicial system during the occupation. It is a former law enforcement officer who, after a criminal record and business activity, joined the occupation authorities.

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

SBU investigators served a notice of suspicion to Kherson resident Oleksandr Tyan, who is suspected of collaboration. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, he participated in the formation of an illegal judicial system in the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson region.

According to the investigation, in 2024, Tian was appointed as a so-called "public representative" in the illegally created Qualification Board of Judges of Kherson region. In this position, he was involved in the selection of candidates for pseudo-courts, as well as in the processes of their appointment and subsequent certification. Law enforcement officers qualify these actions as collaboration.

In parallel with his work in the prosecutor's office, he was engaged in a business related to waste management. This activity, according to the investigation, overlapped with the sphere of influence of the former representative of the OPZZh party, Aliona Rotova. In particular, he was a co-founder of a company associated with the import of contaminated sand from Montenegro to Kherson.

In 2021, he headed the private enterprise Kherson Vegetables, owned by Petro Syvolonskyi. After the outbreak of a full-scale war, Syvolonsky left for Russia, and in 2023 the company was re-registered under Russian law.

In April 2024, Tian registered in Russia as a lawyer. Two months later, he became the head of the illegally created Syvash company in the temporarily occupied Skadovsk. This appointment was one of the steps towards his further integration into the structures of the occupation authorities, in particular in the field of pseudo-judicial proceedings.

According to the resource Public Land Control, Oleksandr Tian previously served as a deputy prosecutor of the Central District of Kherson. In 2012, he was found guilty of taking possession of someone else's property by fraud committed by prior conspiracy by a group of people, which caused significant damage to the victim, as well as abuse of office. The court also commuted the actual sentence of five years in prison to a three-year probationary period.

The former Ukrainian law enforcement officer was also sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison. Investigators proved that he deliberately sided with the aggressor, headed the occupation structures and was personally involved in the persecution of activists and journalists in Crimea and Kherson region.

Анна Бальчінос