Prosecutors issue suspicion notice to Russian News Front correspondent

Prosecutors have declared Crimean resident, war correspondent for the Russian news agency News Front who uses the pen name LeX, a suspect for collaborationism and justifying the through the media. The suspicion was announced in absentia, reports Kherson Oblast Prosecutor's Office.

According to the investigators, the suspect arrived in temporarily occupied Kherson as a war correspondent for News Front in May 2022 and organized the destructive influence project “Streets of Kherson”, which consisted of anti-Ukrainian public and political rallies.

Alexander Turchin (pen name LeX). Photo by INzhyr Media

“Ukrainian national symbols were destroyed and a distorted narrative of the territories' historical affiliation was promoted at these events. This was done to create media content in support of the aggressor state, which was then distributed in 'television programs' and on social media,” the prosecutors note.

The suspect took an active part in organizing and holding pro-Russian rallies in Kherson oblast. The purpose of this actions was to shape a positive image of the occupation authorities with the local population and internationally.

The defendant was notified in absentia of suspicion of encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, collaborationism, and justifying the occupation of part of Ukraine through the media (Part 2 of Article 110, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 6 of Article 111-1, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 3 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

According to INzhyr Media, the suspect in question is Alexander Turchin, who is now a soldier of the Russian army.