Three collaborators to stand trial for thefts from Kherson shipyard

Three Kherson residents will stand trial for collaborating with the occupants and misappropriating property of a local shipyard. They face up to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

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

Prosecutors sent to court indictments against three Ukrainian citizens suspected of aiding the aggressor state under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 111-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, in July 2022, while in occupied Kherson, they voluntarily agreed to cooperate with the Russian invaders.

The investigation found that in August 2022, Serhiy Balabantsev voluntarily headed the company, his older brother Oleh became deputy director, and Yulia Istomina from Kherson took the position of chief accountant. They became members of the so-called inventory commission of the occupiers and participated in the nationalization of the shipyard's property.

According to the commission's protocol, the company's material assets, including several cars, were taken to the left bank of the Kherson region and transferred to the balance sheet of the illegal PalladAa LLC.

In this way, the defendants actually helped the occupiers to appropriate the property of the local shipyard. In particular, in the fall of 2022, they facilitated the movement of two GAZ trucks to the Pribiy boarding house in the village of Henicheska Hirka.

In 2016-2024, Oleh Balabantsev headed the Kherson Sudmash plant, previously owned a car dealership in Pryluky and during the 2014 presidential election headed the election commission in Chernihiv region, where he was subject to corruption cases.

His brother, Serhiy Balabantsev, practiced law and notary in Pryluky in 2009-2011 and had debts. He headed the occupation enterprise Pallada from August 2022 to December 2023, and together with his brother he co-founded the DOSAAF organization, established in May 2024 in the village of Nova Zburyivka, Skadovsk district. Yulia Istomina was responsible for accounting at the occupation enterprise.

Before the outbreak of full-scale war, the Kherson Shipyard Pallada specialized in the construction of composite reinforced concrete floating docks and was part of the Ukroboronprom concern.

The SBU also served a notice of suspicion to a resident of Oleshky who collaborated with the occupiers. The man ran for the pseudo-council and, after being elected, held personal receptions of citizens, participated in propaganda events and helped the Russian military with food supplies.

Анна Бальчінос