LPR deputy receives 8 years sentence after returning to Ukraine to collect pension
The Security Service of Ukraine [SBU] reported that the District Court of Lysychansk in Luhansk region sentenced a Deputy of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) to eight years’ imprisonment after he was detained after crossing the demarcation line in the Donbas of contact in May.
“Law enforcement officers established that the resident of Khrustalnyi (previously named Krasnyi Luch) joined the ranks of illegal armed groups in 2014. The criminal actively supported the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, facilitated the establishment of an occupation administration in areas of the Luhansk region which are not under Ukraine's control, and voted for the adoption of a number of separatist laws of the pseudo-republic,” the statement of SBU reads.
The SBU explained that the detained "politician" was trying to cross the demarcation line in order to collect a pension in Ukraine.
The court found him guilty under Criminal Code Part 1 Article 109, “actions aimed at forceful change or overthrow of the constitutional order,” Part 2 Article 110, “willful actions committed to change the territorial boundaries or national borders of Ukraine” and Part 1 Article 258-3, “establishing, leading, or participating in a terrorist group or terrorist organization.”
Residents of the territories which are not under Ukraine's control and immigrants regularly receive pensions in the territory controlled by Ukraine. They are required to present identification to cross the border.