Former SBU chief who collaborated with Russia served notice of suspicion

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has served a notice of suspicion to its former head Oleksandr Yakymenko, who headed the Russian punitive bodies in the occupied part of Kherson Region.

Being suspected of treason, he has been hiding in Russia since 2014, the SBU said on Telegram.

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Yakymenko supported the Russian occupiers and offered them his assistance in the war against Ukraine. For this, he was appointed head of the "state security service in Kherson Region" created by Russia.

In this "position", he fulfills Moscow's task of spreading the Kremlin control and suppressing the resistance movement in the region. In his criminal activities, the invaders' accomplice is "accountable" to FSB officers who coordinate the repressive bodies of the Russian Federation in the occupied areas.

During the occupation of Kherson, the "official" ordered the seizure of one of the offices in the city centre. In the basement of this building, the Russians set up a torture chamber. There, they "beat out" confessions of assistance to the Ukrainian Defence Forces, and then offered an "amnesty" for money.

Photo: SBU

In this way, he and his accomplices "earned" money from mass repression and also reported their "achievements" to Russian "handlers". According to the investigation, he personally recruited eight more traitors who were directly involved in the torture of civilians.

After the liberation of Kherson, the "official" and his accomplices fled to the left bank of the Dnipro River and he is currently hiding from justice there.

Based on the evidence collected, SBU investigators served the former general and eight of his accomplices a notice of suspicion under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

Part 2, Art. 110 (encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine);

Part 2, Art. 111 (high treason committed under martial law);

Art. 260 (creation of paramilitary or armed groups not provided for by law);

Part 2 Art. 28, Art. 438(1) (violation of the laws and customs of war).