The Court of Appeal upheld the sentence of a resident of the village of Sofiivka in Bilozerka district, who was convicted for participating in holding a pseudo-referendum in the temporarily occupied territory.
This was reported by the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The woman was sentenced to seven years in prison. She was also banned for ten years from holding positions in government bodies and from engaging in activities related to electoral processes. Additionally, the court ordered the confiscation of all her personal property. The convict is in custody.
According to the investigation, in September 2022 she joined the work of an election commission created by the occupiers. Together with Russian military personnel she went around the homes of residents of several villages and handed them “ballots” for voting.
Law enforcement detained the woman in August 2023 in the de-occupied territory. In court she claimed that she acted under duress, but prosecutors provided evidence and eyewitness testimony that confirmed voluntary participation.
The verdict of the Kherson City Court dated April 22, 2025, was appealed by both parties, but the appellate court recognized it as lawful.
Earlier we wrote that the Kherson Court of Appeal considered complaints in the case of the former administrator of the Stanislavska village council Nataliya Sundenko, who went into collaboration with the occupiers, and left the decision unchanged of the first instance.