Ukrainian 'Chief of Police' Who Colluded With Russia Caught Trying to Flee

Ukrainian 'Chief of Police' Who Colluded With Russia Caught Trying to Flee

AUkrainian man, who called himself a "chief of police" for the city of Balakliya near Kharkiv who reportedly colluded with Russia has been caught attempting to flee, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) said Friday.

The SSU said Ukrainian law enforcement officers detained a 48-year-old man who they said colluded with representatives of occupying Russian forces in the city. The individual assumed the position of "chief" of the so-called "people's militia of Balakliia," it said in a report.

This photograph taken in eastern Ukraine on September 15, 2022 shows a destroyed Russian self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon '2K22 Tunguska' in Balakliya, recently recaptured from Russia by the Ukrainian army. A Ukrainian man, who was a self-proclaimed "chief of police" for the city of Balakliya who reportedly colluded with Russia was been caught attempting to flee this week.
The man, who wasn't named by the SSU, is accused of recruiting other workers, managing their official activities, and organizing joint patrols with the Russian occupying forces near critical infrastructure facilities from April to September this year.

According to the SSU, the man fled to Kupyansk, which was occupied at the time, and he was later detained by Ukrainian law enforcement officers after the city was recaptured by Ukraine. The SSU added the man now faces a prison sentence of up to 15 years.

Newsweek has reached out to Russian and Ukrainian authorities for comment.

On September 8, Balakliya became the first city in the Kharkiv region to be retaken by Ukraine during its successful counteroffensive that began in early September.

After the city, which is around 43 miles southeast of the eastern city of Kharkiv, was recaptured, videos circulated on social media showing emotional residents greeting Ukrainian soldiers.

Footage reportedly shot in the city and posted on Twitter by Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk showed a group of women emerging from a building to hug Ukrainian soldiers as they arrive.

"Ladies greet [Ukrainian] soldiers in liberated Balakliya after 6 months of Russian occupation...I can watch endlessly," Gumenyuk tweeted.

"Well done, well done," said one woman, while another said, "We have been praying for six months for you to come back to us. We couldn't endure it anymore."

The women thank the men and say that there are children and grandchildren with them. "Thank you for coming for us," one said.

Another clip showed two women hugging and taking photos with soldiers reportedly gathered in Balakliia's town square.

The liberation of the city came amid a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv that has seen Russian troops pushed out of the southern region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited territory liberated in the effort on Wednesday, singing the national anthem in Izium.

"The view is very shocking but it is not shocking for me," Zelensky told reporters, adding: "because we began to see the same pictures from Bucha, from the first de-occupied territories... the same destroyed buildings, killed people."