The SBI has issued notices of suspicion to officers from the Crimea who were involved in the destruction of residential areas in Mariupol, among other things (VIDEO).

SBI officers served a notice of suspicion on the former chief of staff of the Combat Support Centre of the Ukrainian Navy and the commander of an engineering group from Crimea, who defected to the enemy in 2014.

After the occupiers seized the military unit in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the chief of staff and the group commander refused to relocate to the government-controlled territory and swore allegiance to the aggressor.

Currently, former Ukrainian military personnel are serving the occupiers as part of the " international demining centre of the armed forces of the russian federation". Their duties include providing technical support to the occupiers, including mining of Ukrainian territory, infrastructure facilities, administrative and civilian buildings.

On the instructions of the occupiers, they use demining equipment to shell not only Ukrainian military targets, but also civilian objects. In particular, according to intelligence information, these traitors are behind the use of the UR-77 "Meteorite" system in the neighbourhoods of Mariupol.

In addition, relatives of one of the traitors live in the Lviv region. About a month before the full-scale invasion, he warned that he would soon come with the russian army to "liberate" them. His mother and sister went abroad immediately. His father and grandmother stayed in Ukraine, hiding from enemy rockets and waiting for their "liberator".

The former soldiers were charged in absentia with high treason (Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The penalty under this article is imprisonment for up to 15 years.

Procedural guidance is provided by the Specialized Military and Defence Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Region.

The State Bureau of Investigation is systematically documenting the actions of military traitors who defected to the enemy in 2014 and are now fighting against Ukraine on the side of the aggressors. This work is the basis for the further trial of these individuals.

For example, based on the SBI's material, a Crimean traitor sailor captured in the Kherson region was sentenced to 13 years in prison.