The court in absentia found Viktoriya Kovpey, a resident of the Kakhovka district of Kherson region, guilty of collaborationist activities; after the start of the Russian occupation she took a job at the illegally established tax service.
This was reported by “IRS-South” citing the court’s verdict.
According to investigators, in the summer of 2022 Viktoriya Kovpey took the position of an inspector in the occupation administration of the tax service of Kherson region.
Before the full-scale invasion she worked as a senior state auditor-inspector of the Main Department of the State Tax Service in Kherson region, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.
In court witnesses said that during the occupation of Kherson Kovpey traveled to the city for work from the left-bank part of the region. After Kherson was liberated she remained on the occupied territory and continued cooperating with the Russian authorities.
The investigation established that within the occupation structure the woman conducted tax inspections and imposed fines. Currently, according to law enforcement, she is in Skadovsk and continues to work for the occupation administration.
The court found her guilty under part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced her to 15 years imprisonment with confiscation of all property.
According to “IRS-South”, members of the convicted woman’s family may also be involved in cooperation with the occupation authorities. In particular, the publication’s sources claim that her sister and the sister’s husband work in Russian-created security structures in the temporarily occupied territory. In addition, Kovpey herself married a man during the occupation who holds a position in one of the occupation administrations of the Velyka Lepetykha community.