Resident of Kherson voluntarily joined the army of the occupiers

A resident of Kherson has been suspected of participating in an illegal group.

This was reported by the press service of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office.

The report says that under the procedural guidance of the Kherson Regional and Genichesk District Prosecutor's Offices, the man was served a notice of suspicion in absentia on the fact of voluntary participation in an illegal armed group created in the temporarily occupied territory (Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to the investigation, in 2023, a 53-year-old resident of Kherson joined the illegal armed formation "Volunteer Battalion named after V.F. Margelov" as a radio operator. The activities of this illegal armed group are aimed at ensuring and supporting armed aggression against Ukraine. In April of this year, the suspect, being in the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson region, gave an interview to the Russian media about his participation in the "volunteer battalion", talking about contributing to the combat potential of the Russian Armed Forces and raising the morale of young people. He also thanked the Russian organization for the "humanitarian" assistance provided to the armed group.

The pre-trial investigation is being carried out by investigators of the Main Department of the National Police in Kherson region.

Earlier it was reported that the SBU exposed two more "officials" of the Russian torture chamber that operated during the occupation of Kherson. According to the investigation, the perpetrators were two Kherson residents who supported the invaders at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. They were appointed to the positions of operator of the operational department and junior inspector in the Russian torture chamber, which operated on the basis of the correctional colony in Kherson that was seized at that time. They were also given ranks, Russian-style uniforms and "certificates". The defendants helped the invaders control the regime of detention of Ukrainian patriots.

It was also reported that the SBU detained another collaborator who cooperated with Russia during the temporary occupation of Kherson.