The court in absentia found Viktoriya Nishanova guilty of collaborationist activity; she participated in organizing and conducting an illegal referendum in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region in September 2022.
This is stated in the court’s verdict.
As established by the Kherson City Court, in the period from September 23 to 27, 2022 the defendant acted in prior collusion with representatives of the so-called Kherson Oblast election commission and members of PEC No. 301.
She received voters in the school building in the village of Antonivka in Kherson Oblast, issued ballots, checked people against the lists and campaigned for the Kherson region to leave Ukraine and join Russia.
According to the court, Nishanova voluntarily agreed to participate in holding the illegal referendum in the temporarily occupied territory and acted for monetary compensation. She was appointed a representative of PEC No. 301, which operated in the Dnipro District of Kherson.
The court classified her actions under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 5 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — collaborationist activity, namely participation in organizing and conducting an illegal referendum committed by prior collusion of a group of persons.
It was previously reported that the court in absentia handed down a verdict to former Kherson journalist Yevhen Belyi, who during the occupation of the city headed a Russian newspaper. For the totality of crimes he was sentenced to 12 years in prison with confiscation of all his property.