Nine Kherson residents received sentences in Russia for attempted liquidation of collaborators

Nine residents of Kherson have received harsh sentences in Russia for allegedly preparing assassination attempts on collaborators. The Ukrainians claim that they were detained, tortured and forced to sign confessions under duress.

This was reported by the Media Initiative.

During the occupation of Kherson, nine Ukrainians were detained and accused of allegedly preparing the liquidation of collaborator officials. On January 30, 2026, Judge Kirill Krivtsov of the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don announced the verdicts.

Yuriy Kayov, an entrepreneur and Red Cross volunteer, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Former AFU soldiers Denis Lyalka and Sergey Kovalsky, as well as the head of a fishing production facility Sergey Gaidt and manager Sergey Officers received 17 years each. Former employee of the Kherson City Council Oleg Bogdanov and the head of the Kherson Port customs post Yuriy Tavozhnyansky were sentenced to 18 years, and entrepreneurs Konstantin Reznik and Sergey Kabakov were sentenced to 20 years in prison.

According to the Russian investigation, in the spring and summer of 2022, this group was supposed to spy on officials, manufacture explosives and install them on vehicles in order to eliminate collaborators, including Kirill Stremousov and Vitaly Bulyuk.

All nine Ukrainians claimed that they had been detained without trial, tortured in the basement of the former National Police Department, and that one of them, Vasyl Stetsenko, died of beatings. During the trial, a witness under the pseudonym "Ivanov," whom relatives identified as the torturer "Khmuryi," admitted that the detainees had been held illegally, but that he himself had not been tortured.

All the defendants retracted their previously signed confessions, stating that they did so under duress and threats from the occupiers, who also intimidated their families. Eight claimed to be civilians, while Serhiy Kovalsky insisted on recognizing himself as a prisoner of war, referring to his service in the Armed Forces during the occupation. The judge refused to grant this status.

The defense is preparing appeals, but the convicts and their relatives do not expect a fair trial. According to the verdict, all nine will spend the first five years in a maximum security prison.

Last year, in December, a Russian cassation court upheld the verdict for Gennadiy Osmak, a journalist from Henichesk. Gennadiy was detained on March 7, 2024. He is the former editor-in-chief of the Novyi Visit newspaper. The occupation authorities accused him of "participating in an illegal military group", in particular, of "popularizing the terrorist battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan".

Анна Бальчінос