Pro-Russian MP Renat Kuzmin has been charged with treason
Kuzmin has not been arrested yet (Photo:dsnews.ua)
Renat Kuzmin, an MP from the banned pro-Russian Opposition Platform – For Life party, has been charged with treason, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) stated on Oct. 5.
According to investigators, from March 2021 and after the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, Kuzmin expressed pro-Russian propaganda in his speeches, messages on social networks, and on his own website.
The purpose of the messages was to create an anti-Ukrainian mood in the society and influence the public to the detriment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability and security of the country, the SBI stated.
The MP’s actions have been qualified as triggering Part 1 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (treason), according to prosecutors. If found guilty, the charge carries a sentence of up to 15 years imprisonment and confiscation of property.
Kuzmin has not been arrested, as law enforcements have been so far unable to determine his whereabouts. More than ten simultaneous searches were carried out at possible location, the SBI reported.
Kuzmin fled Ukraine after the Euromaidan protests. In 2014, criminal proceedings were opened against him due to the illegal detention of Yuriy Lutsenko in 2010, and he was added to Ukraine’s wanted list.
In the 2019 parliamentary elections, he was elected as an MP for the Opposition Platform for Life party, after which the police removed him from the wanted list.
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