The Prymorsky District Court of Odesa is continuing the hearing in the case of Lyudmyla Hrushko – a resident of the village of Mykolaivka in the Kherson region, whom the investigation suspects of treason.
This is reported by the Media Initiative for Human Rights.
According to the SBU, in the period from March to August 2022 the woman allegedly helped Russian occupiers collect information about local residents with pro-Ukrainian positions and ATO veterans, and also facilitated their persecution.
Also, according to the prosecution, Hrushko allowed Russian forces to store equipment and property in her garages.
After the de-occupation of the region the woman moved to Vinnytsia, where she lived in a center for displaced persons. There she was in November 2022. During a search, law enforcement officers seized Russian rubles, notebooks, a +7 Telecom operator card and documents related to the occupation administration of Nova Kakhovka.
Lyudmyla Hrushko herself denies all the charges and insists that she became a victim of slander by her neighbors.
“I am innocent before my country”, — she said during the court hearing, writes the Media Initiative for Human Rights.
During the hearing, which took place on October 28, the court questioned a prosecution witness – a serviceman from Mykolaivka who was in the village during the occupation.
The man claims that he saw Hrushko talking to Russian soldiers, and that cars with “Z” markings often stood near her house. According to him, the woman helped locals obtain “passes”, sold produce and had ties to the occupation administration.
The witness also suggested that it was after a conflict with Lyudmyla that the occupiers detained him and interrogated him in Burgunka.
The defendant’s lawyer cast doubt on these assertions, pointing out that they have no direct evidence.
During questioning Hrushko stated that she did not cooperate with the occupiers, and that Russian soldiers only passed by her house. She emphasized that she always supported Ukraine and left the occupation immediately as soon as the opportunity arose.
The woman is accused of treason, for which the punishment is provided – from 15 years to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
Her defender noted that the court plans to conclude the consideration of the case by the end of the year.