Occupants imprison former Kherson official for embezzlement

Kherson collaborator Elvira Vitrenko, who headed the occupation "ministry," was sentenced to five years in prison. She was accused of inflating prices for sports uniforms and misappropriating more than 11 million rubles.

This was reported by IPC-South.

According to investigative authorities, in May-June 2023, Vitrenko instructed her subordinates to enter into a state contract for the supply of sportswear for educational institutions in the Kherson region at significantly inflated prices, which led to losses to the region's budget of more than 11 million rubles.

She was detained directly during the transaction with the state contract for the supply of sportswear for schools. The criminal proceedings were initiated under the article on abuse of office for mercenary or other personal interest. The court also banned her from holding positions in municipal and state bodies for two years.

According to media reports, Elvira Vitrenko was born on December 28, 1967. She was the ex-wife of Oleksandr Vitrenko, who served as deputy mayor during Volodymyr Saldo's first term. In 2006, she headed the Department for Family, Youth and Sports of the Kherson Regional State Administration for several months, and in 2016 she became the head of the Center for Ecological and Naturalistic Creativity of Student Youth.

In the summer of 2022, she voluntarily joined the occupation administration and headed the so-called "Department of Youth Policy, Family and Sports of the Kherson Region," and later the corresponding "ministry." On September 3, 2023, she was dismissed from her position as acting "minister" after a long period of work for the Russian occupiers.

In January, in Kherson, a court found guilty in absentia a former city council official who voluntarily sided with Russia during the occupation of the city and was given a leadership position in the illegally created occupation administration. This is Iryna Chekhun, the former chief accountant of the Department of State Architectural and Construction Control of the Kherson City Council.

Анна Бальчінос