Maidan cases: ex-commander and 3 officers of the Crimean Berkut were served with suspicion notices for assisting Russia in the annexation of the peninsula
Kyiv • UNN
The former commander and 3 officers of the Crimean Berkut are accused of treason and aiding Russia's annexation of Crimea by seizing firearms and blocking roads in 2014.
Law enforcers have served suspicion notices on the former commander and three officers of the Crimean Berkut in connection with the Maidan cases. In 2014, they seized firearms that were stored at the location of the special forces unit and used them to block the highways between Crimea and Kherson region. This was reported on Friday by the Prosecutor General's Office, UNN reports.
"Under the procedural supervision of the prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office, the former commander of the Berkut special police unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Sevastopol and three other officers of the same unit were served with a notice of suspicion," the Prosecutor General's Office said.
As noted, they are charged with encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, high treason, and seizure of firearms through abuse of office (Part 3 of Article 110, Part 1 of Article 111, Part 2 of Article 262 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
According to the PGO, in January-February 2014, the former law enforcement officers took an active part in the illegal counteraction to peaceful protests in the capital. On February 26, 2014, after returning from Kyiv to Sevastopol, they illegally seized several dozen automatic firearms that were stored at the location of the special forces unit.
Later, by prior conspiracy with representatives of the Russian Federation and other persons who assisted the aggressor state in subversive activities against Ukraine, the suspects used these weapons to block the highways between the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Kherson region.
"Thus, they assisted the Russian Federation in the annexation of the territories of Sevastopol and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea," the PGO pointed out.
