Pro-Russian MP Shufrych faces new allegation

Suspected of state treason, MP Nestor Shufrych from the Platform for Life and Peace political party [a pro-Russian and Eurosceptic political party – ed.] has been charged with a new accusation – financing the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya).

Source: State Bureau of Investigation (SBI); Ukraine's Security Service (SSU); Prosecutor General’s Office

Quote from the SBI: "SBI employees, in collaboration with the SSU, have documented new evidence of anti-Ukrainian activities by MP Nestor Shufrych, who is already suspected of state treason. The investigation materials indicate that the suspect orchestrated a scheme to finance Russian occupation groups in temporarily annexed Crimea.

Specifically, Shufrych paid the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya) for the militarised protection of his elite property on the peninsula. In just three months of 2016, his affiliated company paid over half a million Russian rubles to the occupiers for these services."

Details: The notice of suspicion served on Shufrych was signed by Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin.

The investigation shows that the suspect, through a controlled company and trusted individuals, acquired ownership rights to a building and a plot of land, an unfinished sanatorium with a total area of over 4,500 square metres near the sea, in the town of Semeiz, Crimea, in 2013.

The land plot, covering more than 1.5 hectares, is part of the recreational zone and borders on "Medvedchuk's dacha" [A dacha is a sort of a summer house, usually with a little plot of land where people grow vegetables, fruit trees and berries, or keep a garden – ed.]. This property was acquired from companies, the beneficial owner of which was Medvedchuk's wife, Oksana Marchenko, as stated by the Security Service of Ukraine [Viktor Medvedchuk, is a former Ukrainian PM and a close associate of the Russian president who was exchanged for over 200 Ukrainian prisoners of war in September 2022 – ed.].

After the annexation of the peninsula by the Russian military, Shufrych, in conspiracy with a lawyer and other trusted individuals, ensured the registration of this property under the laws of the Russian Federation.

In 2016, aiming to secure the protection of his property on the temporarily occupied peninsula, he organised the conclusion of a security contract with the illegal militarised formation of the occupation authorities in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea – the Ohrana Federal State Unitary Company of the Russian National Guard in the Republic of Crimea.

In doing so, he involved a controlled lawyer and other Ukrainian citizens. Thus, the parliamentarian organised the transfer and payment to the Russian National Guard, which participated in the war against Ukraine, of funds totalling over RUB 648,700 (about USD 7,100) for property protection, according to the Prosecutor General's Office.

Background: Earlier, Shufrych had already been served with a notice of suspicion of state treason. Currently, the MP is in custody.

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