Former National Guard Lieutenant Colonel Helped Russians Capture Mariupol Port

A former lieutenant colonel of the National Guard of Ukraine, who participated in the storming of Mariupol on the side of the Russian Federation, was reported suspicious.

Prosecutors from the Mariupol District Prosecutor’s Office reported suspicious activity to a member of the occupation army in absentia, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported.

He is charged with high treason and collaboration (Part 2 of Article 111, Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

This is a native of Kramatorsk, a military man by profession, a former officer of the National Guard of Ukraine, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for high treason in 2018 and stripped of his special rank of “lieutenant colonel”. After his release as part of an exchange, he moved to occupied Donetsk and joined the ranks of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” national army.

Later, having considerable military experience, the suspect took the position of “head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection service” at the headquarters of the internal troops of the fake “Ministry of Internal Affairs” of the quasi-republic.

At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the man assisted the occupiers in capturing settlements in the Donetsk region. In particular, he participated in hostilities on the enemy side as part of the command of a reserve point located in the village of Talakivka, Mariupol district.

He also personally led special measures during the capture of the seaport of Mariupol and the right-bank part of the city — he prepared documentation and calculations to provide Russian attack aircraft with radiation, chemical and biological protection. He was awarded a fake medal “for the liberation of Mariupol”.

Currently, the defendant is hiding from Ukrainian justice in the occupied territory. He faces life imprisonment with confiscation of property.

Earlier, USM reported that the heads of the state port in the Odesa region were informed of suspicion for losses to the state of more than 8 million UAH.