Based on the evidence collected by the SSU, the head of russia’s occupation administration in the temporarily occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region Yevhen Balytskyi has been convicted.

The court sentenced him to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

According to the investigation, Balytskyi, a former MP from the banned Opposition bloc party, was one of the first to publicly support russian invaders when the full-scale invasion began.

After that, the invaders appointed him a gauleiter in the occupied territory of the southern oblast.

To force local government officials to recognize the collaborator’s ‘powers’, ruscists threatened people with repressions and physical violence. Those who disagreed were imprisoned in russian torture chambers and subjected to brutal torture.

After appointment, Balytskyi immediately began fulfilling moscow’s instructions to spread the kremlin regime and suppress resistance.

The collaborator was involved in organizing the sham referendum on the ‘accession’ of the occupied area to russia.

Under his leadership, illegal ‘election committees’ were set up to falsify the results for the benefit of the aggressor state.

After the fake plebiscite, Balytskyi appealed to the russian president to ‘recognize’ the region as a new federation subject.

On 30 September 2022, at a ‘ceremony’ in the kremlin, he signed an illegitimate ‘agreement on the accession’ of Zaporizhzhia region to russia.

Based on the evidence collected, the court found the gauleiter guilty under two Articles of the CCU:

• 28.5, 111-1.5 (participation in organization and holding of illegal referendums in the temporarily occupied territory, committed upon prior conspiracy by a group);
• 110.2 (intentional actions committed to change the boundaries of the territory or state border of Ukraine in violation of the procedure established by the Constitution of Ukraine, upon prior conspiracy by a group).

The convicted ‘official’ is in the temporarily occupied territory in southern Ukraine. The efforts to bring him to justice are underway.

The SSU Office in Zaporizhzhia region conducted the investigation under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.