Prosecutor Irina Venediktova explained that the judiciary had identified 500 people as war criminals from Russia and the separatists in the east of the country, local media reported.
She also posted a tweet with the name of the deputy of the Southern City of Mariupol.

She said that the official mentioned earlier "has agreed to serve the occupiers and help the activities of the aggressors in Mariupol, so the prosecution charged him with treason as well."

Kyiv had vowed more than once not to tolerate traitors, despite the unity of Ukraine to a large extent in the face of Russian aggression.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had announced earlier this month (April 2022) the dismissal of the former head of the Internal Security Administration, Olehovich, and the former director of the Security Service Bureau in the Kherson region, Krivoruchko Serhiy Aleksandrovich, from their posts, which was the first sign of internal dissent.

He also stressed that "high-ranking officials and officers who violate the oath of military loyalty to protect the country and its independence will be severely punished, and they will inevitably be deprived of their high military ranks in accordance with Article 48 of the Armed Forces Discipline Charter."

It is noteworthy that the southern city of Mariupol, overlooking the Sea of Azov, was a strategic target for the Russian forces. Russia moved to its vicinity and besieged it for weeks. Controlling it would open the way for Russia to connect eastern Ukraine, specifically the Donbas region, to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.