Former mayor of Kherson Володимир Миколаєнко took part in another court hearing and handed over a letter of support to Kherson residents who are being illegally tried in the Russian Federation.
He wrote about this on his personal Facebook page.
In his post Володимир Миколаєнко recalled the men who, under various circumstances, became prisoners of the Kremlin.
“This is the so‑called “Kherson Nine” – a group of Ukrainians whom Russian military forces kidnapped in July–August 2022, and later declared participants of a “terrorist organization”. Among the “nine” two are former servicemen, the others are entirely civilian citizens. These are ordinary Kherson residents who were detained almost simultaneously and are all being tried under three charges, because Russia has portrayed them as a terrorist community”, – writes the former mayor of Kherson.
The criminal case involves Олег Богданов, Сергій Гейдт, Сергій Кабаков, Юрій Кайов, Сергій Офіцеров, Сергій Ковальський, Денис Лялька, Костянтин Резник та Юрій Тавожнянський. Russia accuses all of them of an attempt on former MP Юрія Ковальова, an act of international terrorism and organizing a terrorist community.
“In the case materials, as becomes clear at the trial, there are pervasive inaccuracies and manipulations. And that is not surprising, because it is in lies that the essence of Russia lies”, – added Воломири Миколаєнко.
In his letter Володимир Миколаєнко wrote that while in captivity the main thing is not to lose faith, since no one has forgotten about them, and he added that the country is working to bring every Ukrainian back from captivity.
Recall, Russia has already illegally detained nine Kherson residents in pre-trial detention for over 2 years. In the winter of 2022 in Rostov-on-Don they began to be illegally tried. The Russians are trying to “fabricate” a sabotage group out of them. Its leaders were named Костянтина Резніка and Сергія Кабакова.