The court sentenced the former secretary of the Oleshky City Council, Viktor Syrota, who after the start of the full-scale invasion voluntarily sided with the enemy and assumed leadership positions in the occupation administration of Oleshky.
This is stated in the relevant court verdict.
The investigation established that since the summer of 2022 Viktor Syrota consistently held the positions of first deputy head of the occupation administration of Oleshky and deputy head of the so-called municipal district.
In these positions the convict dealt not only with organizational matters but also with actively persuading former colleagues and doctors to cooperate with the Russians. In particular, in June 2022 Syrota, together with an FSB officer, tried to force a local doctor to head the district hospital under the control of the occupiers. He blackmailed the man by saying that his son is an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and assured him that “Russia is here to stay”.
In August 2022, he, with the support of Russian military forces, forced the deputy head of the city council’s finance department to work for the occupation administration.
The questioned witnesses — the convict’s former colleagues — told the court that Syrota demonstrated pro-Russian views already at the beginning of the invasion. One of the witnesses noted that Viktor Syrota openly admitted that he “celebrated the first day of the war”.
The collaborator’s participation in propaganda events was also recorded. In particular, in 2024 he received an award from the so-called regional governor Volodymyr Saldo for “the development of local self-government” in the occupied territory.
The court found Viktor Syrota guilty under Part 5 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (voluntary assumption of a position in illegal authorities associated with organizational and administrative functions) and sentenced him to 9 years of imprisonment, banned him from holding positions in government bodies for 15 years and confiscated all property belonging to him.
As a reminder, Syrota was elected secretary of the Oleshky City Council in September 2018.
In the autumn of 2020 he became a deputy of the Oleshky City Council from OPZZh.
In April 2022, the mayor of Oleshky Yevhen Ryshchuk reported that Viktor Syrota, while in occupation, had submitted a resignation from the post of secretary of the Oleshky City Council.
In May 2022 the Russians allegedly abducted Syrota, and in June it became known that he was cooperating with the occupiers.
In September 2023 he was “elected” a deputy of the fake Oleshky Duma.