Teacher of defense of the Fatherland threatened students' parents with reprisals during the occupation of Kherson region

During the occupation, the educator headed the school created by the invaders, threatened his fellow villagers and contributed to the introduction of Russian order in the village. After the liberation of the territory, he fled, and the SBU notified him of suspicion in absentia.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism with reference to the suspicion.

68-year-old Oleksandr Bobik, a resident of the village of Burgunka, Beryslav district, Kherson region, is suspected of aiding the aggressor state. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, in the summer of 2022, during the Russian occupation of part of Kherson region, Bobik agreed to cooperate with the invaders and headed the Burgunka School, which they created. Before that, he worked at the school as a teacher of physical education and defense of the Fatherland.

Investigators found that Bobik, a native of the village of Zoloti Prudy, Kramatorsk district, Donetsk region, used his connections and authority in the village to implement the occupiers' policies.

He was personally involved in the employment of teachers and technical staff, introduced documentation in Russian, and, according to eyewitnesses, threatened villagers with physical violence if they refused to comply. In addition, children were forced to attend this illegal educational institution - forced enrollment was accompanied by pressure and intimidation of parents.

In the fall of 2022, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine were liberating the territory, Bobik hastily fled from Burhunka. His whereabouts are currently unknown, but the SBU has already served him with a notice of suspicion in absentia under Part 1 of Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - aiding the aggressor state. The sanction of the article provides for 10 to 12 years in prison with confiscation of all property.

Previously, he headed the Burgun Lyceum in the 2000s and from 2013 to 2019, and was a deputy of the Beryslav District Council from the Party of Regions.

Also, 43-year-old Oleh Burlakov, a resident of the village of Nova Zburyivka in Kherson region, was found guilty of treason for collaborating with the occupation administration. In 2022, he agreed to head a school created by the invaders on the basis of the seized Novozburyivka lyceum, where he had previously taught biology.

Анна Бальчінос