Guarded a Russian torture chamber, then was mobilized: SBU found a collaborator in a military unit
"Using the army to cover up the traces didn't work: a former employee of the occupation colony was imprisoned"
Eight years of imprisonment was given to a 44-year-old resident of Kherson, who during the Russian occupation of the city voluntarily worked at a correctional colony established by the invaders, and after the de-occupation was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On September 15, 2026, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported this.
According to the SBU, at the beginning of the full-scale invasion the man voluntarily agreed to cooperate with the Russian occupiers. During the occupation of Kherson he took the position “junior inspector of the supervision group of the security department” in the institution illegally created by the Russians “Northern Correctional Colony No.90”. According to the special service, in this position the man guarded the cells where the occupiers held Ukrainian patriots and members of the resistance movement. The SBU notes that prisoners were tortured there.
After the liberation of the right-bank part of the Kherson region the suspect hid for some time, and later was mobilized into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the SBU, in this way he hoped to avoid responsibility and conceal his activities during the occupation.
However, special service officers established his whereabouts and detained him in one of the military units in the central region of Ukraine. From the court case materials it became known that after mobilization the man served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, took part in hostilities and received the status of a participant in combat operations. He was detained in March 2025.
On the basis of the collected evidence the man was found guilty under part 7 of Art. 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – collaborationist activity, namely the voluntary acceptance by a citizen of Ukraine of a position in an illegal law enforcement body in a temporarily occupied territory.
The court sentenced him to:
- 8 years of imprisonment;
- 10-year ban on holding positions in law enforcement agencies and state authorities;
- confiscation of property (according to the SBU).
At the same time, earlier media outlets that referred directly to the text of the Kherson City Court’s verdict reported 8 years of imprisonment without confiscation of property.
The investigation was conducted by SBU officers in the Mykolaiv region together with the SBU Department in the Kherson region and the National Police under the procedural guidance of the Mykolaiv Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Defense of the Southern Region. The specialized prosecutor’s office also disseminated information about the verdict.
