The Gauleiter of Chaplinka was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the court

Lilia Pogulyayeva, a former employee of the Chaplynka Village Council, voluntarily took the helm of an illegal government body established by Russia following the occupation. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.

The verdict was handed down by the Velyka Oleksandrivka District Court in Kherson Oblast.

According to the investigation, prior to the occupation, Pogulyayeva had worked for several years as a project specialist at the Chaplynka Village Council. In May 2022, she traveled to occupied Crimea, and upon her return, began collaborating with the occupying authorities.

On October 18, 2023, the so-called “Council of Deputies of the Chaplynka Municipal District” elected Pogulyayeva to the position of “head” of the district for a five-year term. On the same day, she publicly took an oath to uphold the constitution and laws of the Russian Federation.

Pogulyayeva signed the founding documents of the occupation administration, registered it as a legal entity under Russian law, and also spoke publicly as the district’s head—in particular, she commented on the shortage of teachers and doctors, planned the opening of a music school, and the renovation of kindergartens.

She also participated in meetings with the so-called “Minister of Agriculture” of the occupied Kherson Oblast and met with representatives of the “partner region”—the Ryazan Oblast of the Russian Federation—to discuss “patriotic education for youth.”

A forensic facial recognition analysis confirmed Pogulyayeva’s identity based on the video recording of her oath and photographs from publications. In addition, four former colleagues identified her from photographs, and three of them testified directly in court.

The defense insisted that the woman might have been coerced into acting under pressure from the occupying authorities. The court rejected this, noting that no evidence of physical or psychological violence against her had been established.

The court found Pogulyayeva guilty under Part 5 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—voluntarily serving as a member of an illegal authority in an occupied territory.

The case was heard in absentia, as the defendant did not appear in court. She was sentenced to the maximum penalty provided for under the article—10 years of imprisonment, with a 15-year ban on holding public office and the confiscation of all her property.

The verdict may be appealed within 30 days at the Kherson Court of Appeals.

Ірина Глухова