The former head of the pump station of the Basin Department of Water Resources of the Lower Dnipro was sentenced in absentia for cooperating with the occupying authorities of the Russian Federation. This concerns 56-year-old Mykhailo Andriiev from the village of Shevchenko in the Skadovsk city community, who in 2022 participated in organizing the so-called Russian referendum.
This was reported by IRS-South, citing the court’s verdict.
The court found that in September 2022 he directly participated in carrying out the illegal referendum in the village of Shevchenko.
During the trial, testimony from several village residents was heard. One of the witnesses said that on the day of voting a Russian soldier, together with members of the so-called election commission, came to her household. They set up a table with lists and ballots near the gate.
According to her, it was Andriiev who held the ballot box and controlled the course of voting. The woman was offered to vote under the supervision of armed people. Fearing for her safety, she was forced to mark the ballot. After that, the commission moved on to other yards.
Another witness confirmed that the voting was not secret: residents were forced to fill out ballots openly, in front of representatives of the occupation commission. At the same time, Mykhailo Andriiev watched where exactly people placed their marks.
The court qualified Andriiev’s actions under part 5 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — collaborationist activity. By a verdict in absentia, he was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment with confiscation of all property.
Before the full-scale invasion, Mykhailo Andriiev worked as the head of the pump station of the Basin Department of Water Resources of the Lower Dnipro. During the occupation of the Kherson region in 2022, he also headed a municipal enterprise in the village of Shevchenko that had been illegally created by the Russians.