SBI notifies ex-MP Kolesnichenko of suspicion of high treason
11 December 13:12
The People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the IV-VII convocations from the Party of Regions has been served with a notice of suspicion of treason, incitement to national hatred and justification of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
According to Ukrainian media sources, it is Vadym Kolesnichenko.
“He is also suspected of inciting national hatred, combined with deception, and glorification of the aggressor state,” the report says.
According to the investigation, during the Revolution of Dignity, the MP took an active part in the attempts of the then government to prevent Ukraine’s integration into the EU and bring it closer to Russia. In particular, he organized provocative actions to put Ukraine at odds with Poland.
In 2014, he resigned as a member of parliament ahead of schedule and fled to the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, where he began to cooperate with the occupiers. He got a job as an advisor to the occupation administration, and then ran for the position of the so-called governor of Sevastopol.
“Having not received the desired positions and recognition, the traitor continued to conduct subversive activities against Ukraine. The deputy made anti-Ukrainian statements in the Crimean media, made anti-Ukrainian videos that were posted on the Internet for public viewing. In his speeches after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, the traitor publicly praised the war of aggression and the aggressor, humiliated the Ukrainian people and denied Ukrainian statehood,” the SBI said.
The maximum punishment for these actions is life imprisonment.
It should be noted that in early November 2024, based on the SBI materials, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced this MP to 5 years in prison for inciting police officers to abuse power with the use of violence and inciting national hatred and enmity.
After the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberate Sevastopol and take the former MP into custody, he will serve his court-ordered prison sentence.
Thus, the State Bureau of Investigation continues its systematic work on the inevitability of criminal liability for former senior state officials who contributed to the spread of pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian narratives in society to glorify the aggressor state by inciting national hatred and enmity, and to humiliate the national honor and dignity of Ukrainians.
