LPR people's militia serviceman in Stanitsa Luganskaya, which came under the control of the LPRMOSCOW, March 2A criminal case under the article of treason was initiated in Ukraine against the head of the Stanichno-Luhansk rural administration in the Luhansk region, as well as against two of his deputies, they are accused of going over to the side of the Russian Federation, the office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine said on Wednesday. These are not the first criminal cases for treason in against the leaders of local authorities in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian military special operation. Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office reported that cases had been opened against the mayor of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, Gennady Matsegora, who is suspected of treason because of the support of the Russian forces. In addition, criminal cases under the article «treason» were initiated against the heads of the Markovskaya and Milovskaya territorial communities in the Lugansk region.The deputy of the Rada said that the SBU opened a case against him under the article «treason» «The specialized prosecutor's office of the joint forces began an investigation against the head of the Stanichno-Luhansk rural administration and his two deputies on the fact of treason … In the conditions of martial law, these representatives of the local authorities switched to side of the aggressor country, provide assistance to the occupying forces with a material and technical base,» the Prosecutor General's office said on Facebook. In recent weeks, the situation in Donbass has escalated: Kyiv has concentrated most of the army on the line of contact and regularly shells the DPR and LPR, using prohibited equipment . Due to the threat of Ukraine's invasion, the DPR and LPR began the evacuation of women, children and the elderly to Russian regions. A general mobilization was announced. In this situation, on February 19, the leaders of the republics turned to Russia with a request to recognize their independence. Lviv journalist reminded Zelensky of the words about RussiaRussia launched a military operation in Ukraine early on Thursday morning, February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, the civilian population is not in danger. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But there is no talk of the occupation of Ukraine, the President of Russia emphasized.
