The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office has served a notice of suspicion in absentia to a former police officer on high treason under martial law.

Law enforcement officers found that the suspect held the position of a district police officer in Kharkiv region, and sided with the occupiers at Shevchenkove village, Kupiansk district, at the end of May 2022.

According to the investigation, the police officer conducted patrols and illegally detained locals, received applications and reports of crimes and incidents, and reviewed and documented them following Russian law.

Suspected law enforcement officer / Photo: Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office

In July, he officially joined the Kremlin-backed ‘Department of Internal Affairs of the Provisional Civil Administration of Kharkiv Region’ as an ‘acting district police inspector of the department of district police inspectors’.

Investigators say the man illegally seized weapons from residents and handed them over to the Russian military.

Later, the suspect took a new position – “operative of the Criminal Investigation Group of the Police Station No. 2 (located in the village of Shevchenkove)”. The policeman was paid a salary of 45,000 Russian rubles / $545 per month.

Before the de-occupation of Kharkiv region, the law enforcement officer fled to Russia with the occupiers. The issue of putting the suspect on the wanted list is currently being decided.

See also

  • She sided with the adversary: SSU detained a postal worker in Izium. During the city’s occupation, the 43-year-old Ukrposhta (Ukrainian Postal Service) employee headed the local branch of the Russian post office at the personal suggestion of the pro-Kremlin “governor of the Izium district”.
  • Assisted in smuggling Ukrainian grain to Russia: man to be tried in Kharkiv. The Kupiansk bakery plant chief engineer cooperated with the Russian invaders during the city’s occupation.
  • Russia against journalists: over 20 media workers are victims of war crimes. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recorded over 50 cases of Russians directing artillery fire against journalists. In half of the cases, this was done purposely.