“Gauleiter” of the rashists Saldo was notified in absentia of suspicion for the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children during the occupation of the right bank of Kherson

The Security Service documented new crimes by traitor Volodymyr Saldo – head of the Russian occupation administration on the left bank of Kherson region. He and two of his accomplices are implicated in the illegal transfer of Ukrainian children after the capture of the regional center.

As the investigation found, 7 October 2022 the defendants organized the illegal removal of students from the Kherson Professional Shipbuilding Lyceum to so‑called “sanatoriums” in temporarily occupied Crimea.

It was established that the institution’s pupils were first transported by buses to the river port, and from there by boats to the left bank, where additional transport awaited them on a route to the peninsula.

To organize the illegal removal, Saldo recruited Viktor Loginov – a former serviceman of the Russian army who at the time of the crime held the “position of deputy director of the lyceum.”

According to the investigation, to conceal the illegal transfer of the children he personally entered fictitious data into the school’s registration documents.

The second accomplice – Mykola Dolzhenko – a teacher at the lyceum that had been captured at the time, accompanied the students throughout the entire route to Crimea.

By these actions the defendants violated Article 49 of the Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which prohibits the forcible transfer of protected persons from occupied territory.

On the basis of the collected evidence, investigators of the Security Service notified Saldo and his two accomplices in absentia of suspicion under part 2 of Article 28, part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (war crimes committed by a group by prior agreement).

Since the perpetrators are hiding in the temporarily occupied part of Ukraine’s territory, comprehensive measures continue to bring them to justice.

Recall that in another criminal proceeding based on SBU materials, the gauleiter of Kherson region Saldo was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison.

The investigation was conducted by investigators of the Main Investigative Department under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General.

Security Service of Ukraine