The former head of the Russian occupation authorities in the Kherson region and vice-governor of the Kaliningrad region Serhii Yeliseyev has been sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
After the capture of Kherson, the Kremlin sent Yeliseyev there to head the local occupation authorities. While in office, Yeliseyev was the curator of the region and coordinated contacts between local officials and the Russian military-political leadership.
Also, during his administration, preparations were underway in the then-occupied city for a pseudo-referendum in September 2022 in support of the regionʼs annexation by Russia. To provide mass information support for the referendum, Yeliseyev created the controlled "Tavria TV and Radio Company" in Kherson, which became the local mouthpiece of the Kremlin.
In addition, he repeatedly appeared on the airwaves of central Russian media resources, where he justified the armed aggression of the Russian Federation and the occupation of the southern regions of Ukraine.
On the eve of the liberation of Kherson, the attacker fled to the left bank of the region, and later to the Russian Federation, where he returned to the administration of the Kaliningrad region.
According to materials from the SBU investigators, the court found Yeliseyev guilty in absentia under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 3 of Article 436-2 (justification, recognition as lawful, denial of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants);
- Part 6 of Article 111-1 (organization and active participation in political activities in cooperation with the aggressor state and its occupation administration, aimed at supporting the aggressor state and its occupation administration).
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