The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) have collected evidence and issued a notice of suspicion in absentia to Russian film director, screenwriter, and former State Duma deputy Vladimir Bortko, who called for a nuclear strike on Ukraine.
"According to the case materials, the defendant is using the multi-million audience of Russian television channels and internet platforms to justify full-scale armed aggression by Russia against Ukraine," the SBU said on its Telegram channel on Thursday.
According to the Ukrainian intelligence service, in his interviews with Kremlin propagandists, he proposed to the Russian military-political leadership to strike Ukraine with tactical nuclear weapons.
The agency notes that Bortko is the author and director of Russian films and television series, including Bandit Petersburg and Streets of Broken Lights.
"From 2011 to 2021, he was a member of the Russian State Duma, where he publicly supported the seizure of Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions," the SBU notes.
The statement emphasizes that after the outbreak of full-scale war, the defendant repeatedly appeared on Russian television, questioning Ukrainian statehood and calling for the complete occupation of the entire territory of our country.
Based on the evidence collected, Security Service investigators issued a notice of suspicion to Vladimir Bortko under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Article 436 (war propaganda); Part 3 of Article 436-2 (justification, recognition of the legitimacy, denial of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, glorification of its participants using the media).
Comprehensive measures are underway to hold the suspect accountable for crimes against Ukraine's national security.
The pretrial investigation is being conducted under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office.
