The court handed down a sentence to a former employee of the Main Directorate of the Pension Fund in Kherson Oblast, Viktoriya Kuguk, who during the occupation of the city voluntarily sided with the Russian Federation.
This is stated in the court ruling.
Before the full-scale invasion, Kuguk served as head of the Administrative Support Department at the Ukrainian Pension Fund. However, in July 2022 she voluntarily assumed the position of deputy head in the occupation Pension Fund.
As the investigation found, in that role Kuguk organized the recruitment of staff for the occupation institution and their training, participated in public reports by the occupying administration to create the illusion “of a normal life”, oversaw the distribution of pensions in Russian rubles and kept records of persons of pension age. In addition, she controlled the use of fuel and lubricants for the needs of the institution.
On the eve of the de-occupation of Kherson, Kuguk left for Henichesk, where she obtained a position in the illegal branch of the Russian Social Fund for Kherson Oblast.
The investigation confirmed the woman’s guilt, providing as evidence numerous documents found after the liberation of Kherson. In particular, orders of the occupying administration, time sheets indicating that she regularly went to work, as well as data from email and Telegram channels.
The judge of the Kherson City Court in absentia found Viktoriya Kuguk guilty under part 5 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (collaborationist activity). She was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment with confiscation of all property.