Kherson deputy who claims to be a journalist and a NUJU member suspected of treason by the SSU
The Security Service of Ukraine detained Kherson City Council deputy Ilya Karamalikov on suspicion of treason. This was reported in the department's press service.
"After the beginning of the armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine, he provided assistance to the occupying country in carrying out reconnaissance and sabotage activities to the detriment of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state. In addition, he personally performed the tasks of the representatives of the aggressor country on the secret deployment of servicemen of the russian armed forces and patrolling the territory of the settlement," the statement reads.
Moreover, according to Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office, the deputy had been conducted subversive work in mass media.
"In order to discredit the current government, he actively participated in the creation of pro-russian media propaganda materials about the arrival of "russian world" in the Kherson region," said the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office.
Ilya Karamalikov called himself a journalist of the "Khersonsky Visnyk New" outlet, which belongs to Hennady Shelestenko. Shelestenko himself confirmed that Karamalikov is cooperating with the media outlet.
According to the IMI representative in Kherson region, the media outlet is a Facebook page where several people host live streams. The outlet's website was last updated in October 2021. The outlet has repeatedly been accused of sympathizing with the occupiers. Hennadiy Shelestenko's wife, Olena, was filming videоs of "starving Kherson residents abandoned by the authorities," Shelestenko himself was a speaker at a pro-russian rally together with the collaborator Kirill Stremousov on March 13, after which Ukrainian law enforcement officers have already opened a criminal case.
Ilya Karamalikov often shot videos for this Facebook page. He calls himself a member of the NUJU on his Facebook page.
Yuriy Rabotin, head of the Odessa regional branch of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, confirmed to IMI that he knew Ilya Karamalikov and knew him as a pro-Ukrainian deputy, but said that Ilya was no longer a member of their organization.
"About a year and a half ago, we admitted him. This happened. And then the decision was revoked," he said.
Rabotin confirmed that Karamalikov was among the people who were issued certificates under the protection of Hennady Shelestenko, who posted a video of certificates being given out, but under pressure from the media community, the decision to admit these people to the NUJU was revoked.
At the time, Ilya Karamalikov, who had nothing to do with journalism but became a member of the National Union of Journalists, was not mentioned, but pro-russian activist Viktor Tekutyev, an associate of collaborator Kirill Stremousov, was.
According to the SSU, Karamalikov was detained while leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Kherson region for Odessa, later he had planned to leave Ukraine with his family. At the same time, the deputy and his family had foreign passports. The court chose a measure of restraint for the suspect in the form of bail-free detention.
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