The SBU immediately prevented an attempt to seize power at the local level through an illegal referendum, which was to take place on the eve of local elections in Ukraine.

The SBU operatives established that a village head of a settlement of Loziv district of Kharkiv region on 21 September 2020 signed an illegal decision of a council session to call a local referendum in order to create a united territorial community. The deputies, together with the village head, decided that the new territorial community, the center of which was to be their settlement, should unite seven more neighboring villages. Through the “referendum”, the deputies planned to legitimate their decision.

On October 22, within the criminal proceedings initiated by the SBU Office in Kharkiv region, at the time of the local referendum commissions, urgent investigative actions were launched to seize evidence and to identify those involved in the illegal activities.

The SBU warns of the inadmissibility of actions which can lead to trespassing against territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine.