The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv acquitted the former head of the social-educational and psychological work department of the State Institution “Northern Correctional Colony No. 90”, Oksana Mintseva, in a case of collaborationist activity.
The court issued the verdict on 17 December, reports “Sudovyi Reporter”.
The investigation claimed that during the occupation of Kherson, Mintseva allegedly agreed to work in an illegal Russian body, taking the position of the so-called senior inspector of the department for control over the execution of punishments in the occupation administration of the penal enforcement service for Kherson Oblast.
One of the prosecution’s key pieces of evidence was an intercepted SBU phone call from 9 May 2022 between the colony chief, Yevhen Soboliev, and a woman he called Tropina. The conversation concerned a possible “remaining” at work and the temporary assumption of duties. It later turned out that Soboliev had mistakenly called not Mintseva but another employee — Tropina — who was offered the position of head of the personnel department. Tropina herself was charged in absentia, however the recording of the conversation remained in Mintseva’s case files.
In court, Mintseva did not plead guilty and explained that until 12 May 2022 she worked at the colony under Ukrainian law and did not receive any orders to cooperate with the occupation authorities. According to her, after information emerged about the possible dismissal of all colony employees, she submitted a report and at the end of May officially resigned from the service. Afterwards the woman remained in occupied Kherson with her child and mother, living off savings and odd jobs.
The only witness questioned in the case — the former head of the remand site of the colony’s detention center — confirmed that the institution continued to operate under Ukrainian law for some time after the occupation. He also stated that he had no knowledge of Mintseva holding any positions in the occupation authorities. The prosecutor did not secure other witnesses for the court and later declined to question them.
The court concluded that the prosecution did not provide convincing evidence of Mintseva’s participation in the activities of an illegal Russian law enforcement body. The documents in the case did not confirm the creation of such a body in May 2022 or the defendant’s work in it. Instead, the materials showed that she was dismissed from the colony at her own request in accordance with Ukrainian law.
As a result, Oksana Mintseva was acquitted due to the lack of proven elements of the crime. The verdict was issued by Judge Tetiana Ovsepyan.
Earlier, in 2024, another judge of the Shevchenkivskyi district court found Mintseva guilty and sentenced her to eight years’ imprisonment, but the appellate court in January 2025 annulled that verdict and sent the case for a new trial. The appeal pointed to significant violations, including the use of testimony from a witness who was effectively not questioned in court.
Mintseva spent about 2.5 years in custody and was released in July this year after the bail amount was reduced to 242,000 hryvnias.