Russian forces have detained the Mayor of the city of Kupyansk, Hennadiy Matsehora, who had betrayed Ukraine in the first days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv Region Military Administration, announced this on his Telegram channel.
“Matsehora sided with the enemy in the very first days of the war and helped Russian invaders in Kupyansk in every possible way. He provided them with transport, housing, fuel, and food. And they clearly no longer need him,” Oleh Syniehubov reported.
“As we can see, nothing good awaits traitors in any case, because even the Russians themselves do not need them. This is the aggressors’ system. First, they [the Russians – ed.] use the traitors and their resources, then they [the traitors – ed.] are disposed of. I must emphasize once again that voluntary cooperation with the enemy is a serious crime, and punishment for it is inevitable,” he added.
Oleh Syniehubov added that the reasons for Metsehora’s detention are not known.
According to an investigation, collaborators held a meeting on June 3 in occupied Kupyansk, as a result of which they created the “temporary civil administration in Kharkiv Region. The meeting was attended by the mayor of Kupyansk, Matsehora, and seven other collaborators — Vitaliy Hanchev, Valeriy Ivanov, Oleksandr Slesarenko, Vladyslav Sokolov, Kateryna Vodolazka, and Iryna Osadcha. Later it became known that Anatoly Stepanets was also there.”
The local prosecutor’s office has confirmed that these eight people were charged in absentia on June 8, 2022.
The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office informed Hennadiy Matsehora in spring that he was suspected of violating the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, and of treason.
Four mayors in Luhansk Region, namely in Rubizhny, Milovy, Markivka, and Stanytsia Luhansk have turned out to be traitors. This was confirmed by Serhiy Haidai, head of Luhansk Region Military Administration in a Facebook post in April.
