The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has collected evidence on four high-ranking officials from the former Crimean Territorial Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, who during the occupation of the peninsula changed their oath and sided with the Russian invaders, help to carry out mass repressions against local members of the resistance movement and take part in punitive raids on the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.

The press center of the Security Service of Ukraine said on Thursday that the military counterintelligence of the SBU documented the criminal activities of ex-deputy head of the Department of the Crimean Territorial Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine to work with the personnel of Oleksandr Polonsky. He was one of the first to support the occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula and "swore allegiance to Russia," the invaders appointed him "deputy commander of a separate brigade of the internal troops of Russia in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol."

Another traitor was ex-deputy head of the department of the disbanded Crimean Territorial Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the rear, Vitaliy Stepanchuk. After joining the ranks of the aggressor, he became "deputy head of the Department for material and technical support of the Russian Guard in Sevastopol."

The next traitor, according to the SBU, was the ex-deputy head of the department of the disbanded Crimean Territorial Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for armament Viktor Boiko. Currently, he is part of the command structure of the so-called "main directorate of the Russian Guard troops in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol."

In addition, the criminal activity of the former deputy head of the department of the disbanded Crimean Territorial Command of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for public Security Serhiy Svyrydenko has been documented. After the capture of the peninsula, he remained in Simferopol and joined the ranks of the aggressor, was appointed chief of staff of the troops of the Russian Guard in Sevastopol.

All of them took part in ensuring the occupation of the territory of Ukraine, as well as carrying out punitive actions against the local population in the temporarily occupied territories, the SBU said.

Based on the collected evidence, all four defendants were informed of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason).

Currently, comprehensive measures are continuing to establish the locations of the lawbreakers in order to bring them to justice for crimes against our state. The investigation was conducted under the procedural leadership of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.