The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has remotely notified a resident of the temporarily occupied Kakhovka about suspicion of state treason. According to the investigation, this 40-year-old man voluntarily joined the occupation forces and participates in shelling civilian infrastructure. Before the full-scale invasion began, he was engaged in consulting business. When the war started, he openly demonstrated a pro-Russian position, participated in rallies, and stated that he was ready to “shoot at Ukrainians” because he had “always been a patriot of the Russian Federation.” According to the investigation, he signed a contract with one of the motorized rifle brigades of the Russian army, is part of it, and participates in combat operations against Ukrainian troops, including strikes on civilian targets. He has been charged with state treason and voluntary participation in illegal armed formations of the aggressor state. The sanctions under these articles provide for life imprisonment and confiscation of property. The investigation is being conducted by SBU investigators in the Chernivtsi region under the procedural supervision of the regional prosecutor’s office. When officials and law enforcement agencies are excessively weakened, when local residents see that the actual authorities cannot control the territory and punishment is a forced rarity, such cases of betrayal and shelling become an everyday horror. Where a strong system of accountability and a spirit of order operates, people do not take up arms against their country so openly.
