Pro-Russian MP Shufrych detained for two months without bail
Nestor Shufrich in the courtroom, September 15 (Photo:Stas Yurchenko / Graty.me)
Pechersk District Court of Kyiv has ordered
a two-month arrest for sitting Ukrainian MP Nestor
Shufrych with no right to post bail, Ukrainian legal news outlet Graty
reported on Sept. 15.
Reacting to the court's decision, Shufrych told reporters that "the government needs this," suggesting he was charged with treason for political reasons. His lawyers said that they would appeal the court's decision.
Earlier on Sept. 15, NV's sources within Ukraine’s SBU security service said that Shufrych's properties were being raided by law enforcement investigating the politician for treason. During the searches, a document outlining a plan for "autonomy" for Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts was discovered.
SBU later reported that Shufrych, who used to represent the now-banned pro-Russian Opposition Platform — For Life (OPFL), has been formally charged with treason.
Journalist Yuriy Butusov has asserted that Shufrych plays a pivotal role in a case involving a Russian spy network, allegedly established by a Russian FSB officer and former Ukrainian MP Volodymyr Sivkovych.
In July 2022, the State Bureau of Investigations formally announced suspicions of treason against Volodymyr Sivkovych, who served as deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council from 2010 to 2013.
According to reports from NV’s sister publication Ukrainska Pravda, Sivkovych, currently in hiding in Russia, was purportedly preparing to assume the role of a “manager” for a fictitious occupation “government” Moscow planned to install after the invasion of Ukraine.
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