russian occupiers abduct "Suspilne Kherson" engineer Oleksiy Vorontsov

On May 16 in the temporarily occupied Kherson, the occupying forces of the russian federation abducted "Suspilne Kherson" engineer Oleksiy Vorontsov from his apartment. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

This was reported to the company's management by Oleksiy's wife, according to Suspilne.

The public broadcaster appeals to the Ukrainian authorities and the international community to comprehensively and in all possible ways facilitate the release of Oleksiy Vorontsov.

The company filed a criminal offense report to the Joint Center for Coordination of Search and Release of Persons Illegally Imprisoned as a Result of Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation and to the District Prosecutor's Office of Kherson region.

Suspilne notes that since March 2, 2022, the UA: Kherson team has been working remotely and is the one Ukrainian media in the region which continues to provide the residents of the temporarily occupied territories with truthful information.

As of now, the premises of "Suspilne Kherson" are controlled by the occupying russian forces. The occupiers have repeatedly attempted a search for the branch employees' personal files in order to recruit, interrogate and obtain information from them.

As IMI reported, the russian troops robbed the Kherson branch of Suspilne and are now setting up a propaganda channel.

On March 3 in Kherson, the occupiers took over the premises of Suspilne branch, the staff continues to work remotely. Armed men set up trip wires around the building. In addition, the occupiers, who had seized the television studio and the TV center, cut off the Ukrainian television signal.

The Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office has launched a criminal investigation into the seizure and mining of the Kherson branch of Suspilne Broadcaster by russian security forces. The proceedings have been opened under Art. 341, part 1 of Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: seizure of state or public buildings, facilities, as well as for violations of the laws and customs of war.