Pseudo-military commander from Odesa region gets suspended sentence for kidnapping

The court released a member of the NGO "Ukraine is a Mother", Yan Pidopryhora, who, together with two accomplices dressed in military uniforms, kidnapped a man from prison under the guise of "mobilization activities".

According to the verdict of the Chornomorsk City Court, the accused entered into a plea agreement with the prosecutor.

"He unconditionally admitted his participation in the crime," the judge said.

The crime in question occurred in January 2025 near Chornomorsk. The defendant and his friends prepared in advance: they bought a uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a Mercedes-Benz Vito, a weapon for shooting rubber bullets and a replica airsoft gun. It looked like a typical mobilization group.

In the morning of that day, they noticed a cyclist moving along the highway toward Chornomorsk. Introducing themselves as employees of the territorial recruitment center, the men stopped him, used force, pushed him into a bus and illegally detained him for over an hour. The victim managed to call the police, and the perpetrators released him before law enforcement arrived.

Taking into account the plea deal, the court found Pidopryhora guilty of misappropriation of authority and <span> </span>illegal imprisonment. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison, but released on probation.

Earlier, in Odesa, during a search of the office of the NGO"Ukraine is a Mother," law enforcement officers found 25 blank summons forms with signatures and seals that were not filled out. Then the investigating judge of the Malynovskyi District Court of Odesa partially granted the investigator's request to seize the property seized during the search in the criminal proceedings for group hooliganism.

This refers to the events of January 24, 2025, on Mykhailo Boltenko Street in Odesa, where a group of people, according to the investigation, grossly violated public order with obvious disrespect for society. Criminal proceedings were opened for hooliganism committed by a group of people.

In July 2024, the Center for Public Investigations made a film "Guarding the Odesa C auldron" about community groups. It combined three text-based investigations about more than 30 civil society organizations, including the NGO "Ukraine is a Mother":

• "Volunteers" for budgetary funds, bodyguards a la volunteers, and government-supported groups: who is behind Odesa's CFs
• Guardians of Odesa's rear: who is behind the civil society groups
• Guarding the Odesa "cauldron".

Already in September 2024, after an investigation by the CPR, prosecutors exposed the deputy head of the "Law Enforcement Assistance Unit" for corruption. He is suspected of helping to evade the mobilization of persons liable for military service.

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