The court extended the arrest of the suspect in treason and recruitment of mayor Ochakiv

Former special agent Eduard Shevchenko, archival photo of «Nikvesti"

The Mykolaiv Factory District Court extended the term of the preventive measure to the former commander of the 73rd Naval Center of the Special Operations Forces and the official of the Ochakiv City Council, Eduard Shevchenko, in the form of detention for another 60 days.

The corresponding decision was made during the meeting on Thursday, February 8, the correspondent of NikVesti reports.

According to the court's decision, Eduard Shevchenko will remain in custody for at least two more months until April 7, 2024.

During the meeting, the prosecutor read the written evidence attached to the case. The need to extend the preventive measure was explained by risks, in particular, hiding from the court or committing criminal offenses or continuing those in which the defendant appears.

«Martial law is in effect today, the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine continues. Taking into account the severity of the punishment provided for under the specified articles, the fact that the criminal activity of the accused was stopped only due to the intervention of law enforcement agencies, the presence of three components of the crime, the strictest preventive measure, namely detention, will ensure proper procedural behavior,» the prosecutor said.

The panel of judges listens to lawyer Eduard Shevchenko during the session on February 8, photo: NikVesti

The defense side and Eduard Shevchenko himself spoke against detention, saying that the risks emphasized by the prosecutor's office are based only on assumptions and have no evidentiary basis.

«In none of the petitions, the bodies do not give a proper assessment of Shevchenko's health, his reputation, presence of a family, permanent place of residence, place of work, positive characteristics, services to Ukraine, maintenance of minor children. I draw the attention of the court that this is not mentioned in any motion. Shevchenko was not convicted, was not prosecuted, the sole breadwinner of the family, a participant in the Russian-Ukrainian war on the side of Ukraine, a knight of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, a full knight of the Order «For Courage», received disability while defending the Motherland,» answered Eduard Shevchenko's lawyer.

In addition, the defense claims that the information in the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations (ERDR) under one of the articles was entered in November 2023 at the end of the pretrial investigation, which could also have influenced the decision on further detention.

In turn, Eduard Shevchenko once again appealed to media representatives and asked them to be objective in covering this case.

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«I want to draw your attention to write truthfully. It is not necessary to form a bad opinion about me in public. Do everything as it is, according to your conscience,» the defendant appealed.

The next hearing of the case was scheduled for February 21.

The court hearing of the case of Eduard Shevchenko, who is accused of cooperating with the Russian special services and trying to recruit Mayor Serhii Bychkov, began on February 6.

Eduard Shevchenko was arrested in March 2023 on charges of treason.

At the trial, he stated that he did not admit his guilt. Also, during the meeting, Eduard Shevchenko objected to journalists taking photos and video cameras of him.

It is worth noting that he not only headed the department of the Ochakov City Council, which is responsible for security in the city, but is also a former commander of the 73rd Naval Special Forces Center, a veteran of the ATO and a knight of state orders.

In an interview with journalists, he spoke negatively about his years of service in the ranks of the Armed Forces, because of the unfair level of support for servicemen.

How is the mayor of Ochakiv related to the case of treason?

During the detention of Eduard Shevchenko in March 2023, the SBU reported, in particular, that he had tried to recruit Serhii Bychkov.

According to the case, in 2023, when Eduard Shevchenko was the head of the department of protection and surveillance of the housing and communal services department of the Ochakiv City Council, he received a task from Serhii Kolesnikov to recruit the mayor for a loyal relationship. In a direct conversation with Bychkov in the city council, Shevchenko said that representatives of the Russian Federation want to talk to the mayor.

«He is very careful. He proposed through me,» he told Kolesnikov at the time after communicating with the Ochakiv mayor.

Even after his arrest, Eduard Shevchenko said that he was surprised by the SBU release, which stated that he tried to recruit mayor Serhii Bychkov to work for the Russians.

The Deputy Chairman of the Public Control Council of the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine, Denys Zhelo , commented on the lack of claims by law enforcement officers against Ochakov Mayor Serhii Bychkov, whose colleague was arrested for treason. According to Denys Zhelo, the mayor of Ochakiv Serhii Bychkov «was friends in all directions with the Russian intelligence agent Eduard Shevchenko».

Eduard Shevchenko himself noted that he considers Serhii Bychkov to be the most effective mayor of all those who were in Ochakiv.

It is worth noting that the mayor was almost always closed to communication with the media. Commenting on this, the head of Mykolayiv RMA Vitaly Kim suggested that Serhii Bychkov does not address the community and does not report on the results of his work because he is a «non-public person».

High-profile cases of treason in Mykolaiv

At the beginning of April 2022, the head of the Mykolaiv District Prosecutor's Office was detained for cooperation with the occupiers. Prosecutor Hennadii Herman was arrested.

In January 2023, during a court hearing in the Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa, it became known that the prosecutor, who was accused of treason, passed on data to the Russian propaganda blogger Yuriii Podoliaka and one of the leaders of the «DNR», the field commander of the illegal armed formation «Donbas Militia» Ihor Bezler.

Then the traitorous prosecutor admitted that he was directing fire at the building of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, which was hit by a cruise missile in March 2022.

On June 28, 2023, according to the decision of the Odessa court, Herman was found guilty of treason.

On August 10, 2023, the Mykolaiv public prosecutor's lawyers filed an appeal. On September 15, the appeal was heard in the Odesa Court of Appeal.

Hennadii Herman is also associated with launching a missile attack in March 2022 on the barracks in Mykolaiv, where a large number of soldiers died.