A former teacher from the Kherson region incited Russian military personnel against the parents of schoolchildren

After the occupation of the Kherson region, Tamila Taran, a foreign literature teacher, became the head of a school established by the Russian occupation authorities. A man who criticized her collaboration with the occupiers was later taken to a torture chamber.

The Center for Public Investigations uncovered the details of the case.

According to the investigation, prior to the occupation, Taran worked as a foreign literature teacher at the Podo-Kalinivsky Lyceum. After Russian troops seized the village in August 2022, she agreed to head a school established by the occupation administration on the premises of the Ukrainian lyceum.

She organized the school’s operations according to Russian educational standards. Russian flags, portraits of Vladimir Putin, and Russian symbols appeared on the premises, and Ukrainian teachers who refused to cooperate were replaced by other staff members. Russian textbooks, teaching materials, and Russian-style documentation were also delivered to the school.

Parents who did not want to send their children to the school under Russian occupation were reportedly intimidated. One of the witnesses told the court that Taran personally demanded that she send her child to the school, threatening to take the child away.

Instruction was subsequently switched entirely to Russian, a five-point grading system was introduced, and Ukrainian language classes were discontinued. Students were forced to sing the Russian national anthem, pose for photos with the Russian flag, and study the Russian language, literature, and history. In June 2023, graduating students were issued Russian high school diplomas bearing the symbols of the Russian Federation and signed by Taran.

The court also examined the testimony of a man who knew Taran as a former teacher and neighbor. He stated that after he criticized her collaboration with the occupiers, Russian military personnel took him to a torture chamber. They tried to extract information about Ukrainian partisans and the locations of weapons caches.

Also in September,the SBU exposed a collaborator in Kherson who, during the occupation, headed the seized regional library and promoted Russian propaganda.

Анна Літман