Azarov and his assistant to be tried for treason and anti-Ukrainian messages
21 March 2024 15:32
Former Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykola Azarov and his second assistant, who is also in Russia, will be tried for treason, public calls for the overthrow of the constitutional order and justification of Russia’s armed aggression. This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
The Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office has filed an indictment against the former Prime Minister of Ukraine and his assistant.
The investigation found that Azarov, after fleeing to Russia, created a channel on the Telegram messenger. On this channel, he published messages that were propagandistic in nature and spread narratives that met the interests of the Kremlin. These messages contributed to the formation of anti-Ukrainian sentiments in society, i.e. created a negative attitude towards Ukraine under the influence of Russian propaganda.
Two assistants to the former Prime Minister ran the Telegram channel. One of them was the head of the organisational department at the Kyiv district state administration. Her case is already pending in court.
The other assistant is a former employee of the same district state administration, who has now moved to Russia.
Together, the accomplices coordinated the information propaganda activities of the former Prime Minister on the Telegram channel and other social media and helped to organise and disseminate anti-Ukrainian interviews and comments to Russian media.
They did not stop helping the aggressor state even after the full-scale invasion.
Azarov and his second assistant are charged with:
- public calls for violent change and overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power;
- encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine;
- justifying and recognising as lawful, denying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
Mykola Azarov is also charged with high treason (part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
It should be noted that this is not the first case against Azarov. In September 2023, an indictment against him and former President Viktor Yanukovych was sent to court for the Kharkiv agreements. By this document, in 2010, officials extended the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine for 25 years.
