The former deputy mayor of Kupiansk, Kharkiv region, has been charged by the SBU. What allegations are being made against the official?

The Security Service has gathered evidence of state treason and collaborative activities by the former deputy mayor of Kupiansk, who was also an acting city council member from the banned party "OPZZH".

This was reported to the publication "Dumka" by the spokesperson of the Security Service in the Kharkiv region, Vladyslav Abdula.

According to him, the 45-year-old official switched sides after the occupation of the Kupiansk district and immediately began working in the occupying authorities. In particular, in June 2022, he signed an employment contract with the Gauleiter of the Kharkiv region from the aggressor state, initially becoming the acting head of the "military-civilian administration of the Kupiansk district," and later the acting deputy head of this occupying administration. In his new position, the man dealt with economic and financial issues in the occupied territory.

In this role, he issued orders and directives to collect information about properties in the Kupiansk district belonging to employees of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and ATO participants, with the intention of later seizing these properties for the occupiers.

He also established structures under the control of Russian invaders that managed the seized assets of Ukrainian utility companies.

Investigators have determined that through his illegal actions, the perpetrator facilitated the establishment and strengthening of illegal power in the occupied territory of Ukraine, assisting the enemy in constructing a power vertical and persuading the local population to collaborate with the aggressors.

Just before the de-occupation, the traitor fled Kupiansk along with Russian troops and is hiding in a territory not controlled by Ukraine.

Based on the evidence collected by the Security Service, the traitor has been notified of suspicion in absentia under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Part 2 of Article 111 (state treason committed under martial law);
• Part 5 of Article 111-1 (collaborative activities).

For such crimes, the traitor faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

Comprehensive measures are ongoing to determine his whereabouts and hold him accountable for crimes against Ukraine. The investigation is being conducted by the Security Service in the Kharkiv region under the procedural guidance of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office.

Recall that Russian occupying forces seized Kupiansk on February 27, 2022. Mayor Hennadiy Matsehora stated in a video address that the city was coming under the control of the aggressor country. By July, it became known that the occupiers had arrested Matsehora. Ukrainian law enforcement has in absentia notified him of suspicion of encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine and state treason.