Kherson Appellate Court reviewed appeals in the case of the former administrator of the Stanislavska village council, Nataliya Sundenko, who cooperated with the occupiers, and left the first-instance decision unchanged.
The verdict was published on the website of the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.
According to the investigation, since July 2022 the woman unofficially worked as an accountant at the state farm “Bilozersky”. In September the occupation-appointed manager of the state farm came to her and said it was necessary to take part in holding a pseudo-referendum on the annexation of part of Kherson region to the Russian Federation, however, according to Sundenko, she did not agree. After that they began to threaten her and hint that something could happen to her family.
Fearing persecution by the occupiers, Nataliya Sundenko agreed to participate in organizing the illegal vote and, together with the occupation-appointed director of the state farm “Bilozersky”, began traveling around the villages of the Bilozerska community and registering voters. For this she received 41 000 Russian rubles in cash.
It is noted that in August 2023 law enforcement detained Nataliya Sundenko; since then she has been in custody.
In April 2025 she was sentenced to 7 years in prison with confiscation of all property.
During the appeal hearing, Sundenko again stated that she agreed to take part in the pseudo-referendum due to threats from the management of the state farm. According to her, they pressured both her and her family.
The appellate court found no evidence to support these statements, so the judges concluded that participation in the pseudo-referendum was voluntary. The defense requested dismissal of the case, but the court refused. The verdict remained unchanged.