The National Police of Ukraine has informed former Verkhovna Rada deputy and ex-mayor of Kherson, Volodymyr Saldo, of suspicion of nearly 3000 tons of Ukrainian grain theft, reports the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Saldo, who betrayed Ukraine, allegedly ordered grain removal from Kherson.
According to the report, before the liberation of Kherson by Ukraine's Armed Forces in November 2022, the occupying authorities managed to export three barges of the 2021 barley harvest, weighing over 2800 tons and almost 15 million hryvnias.
"Saldo's actions were qualified as a war crime under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine," the Office of the Prosecutor General states.
In November 2023, the Malynivskyi District Court of Odesa found Saldo guilty of treason and sentenced him in absentia to 15 years in prison with property confiscation. The report indicates that "Saldo's assets were confiscated and have already begun to be sold."
The Office of the Prosecutor General reveals that in 2022, Saldo switched sides to Russia in exchange for the position of gauleiter of the Kherson Oblast.
In autumn 2022, he reportedly "ordered the creation of a temporary administration at the captured Kherson Bread Products Plant. More than 30,000 tons of grain and industrial crops were stored in the company's warehouses."
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