Former mayor of Simeiz arrested in Crimea for spying for Ukraine

The FSB detained a Russian citizen in Yalta who was passing information constituting a state secret to Ukrainian intelligence agencies. This was reported in a statement by the agency's press service, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.

The investigation established that the Yalta resident spied on instructions from the SBU in the period from 2017 to 2018.

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“A criminal case has been initiated against this person on the grounds of a crime under Art. 275 of the Criminal Code of Russia (“High treason in the form of espionage”). The sanction of the article provides for a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The Yalta City Court chose a preventive measure in the form of detention for him,” the statement says.

_{According to media reports, we are talking about the former deputy of the Yalta City Council and ex-mayor of Simeiz Yuri Lomenko, who resigned on November 8 this year. This information is confirmed in his blog by Russian military correspondent Alexander Sladkov: “They lassoed another potential enemy (the court will prove or disprove it). Former mayor of Simeiz Lomenko."}

It is interesting that in 2017 Lomenko became the founder and head of the organization “National-Cultural Autonomy “Ukrainians of Crimea”, which he liquidated in October of this year. He was elected to the Yalta City Council from the United Russia party.

“The team of the United Russia party has proven and reliable people! We are doing everything in our power to move from the “Crimean Spring” to the “Crimean Dream,” Lomenko’s party member Valery Kovalenko commented on the joint photo.

“He was an active comrade, but a certain trail followed him during his time as the village head of Simeiz. It is interesting that a day before his arrest, he wrote a letter of resignation from the deputies of his own free will, which was approved by the session. Moreover, they expressed gratitude to him at the session, they were very sorry. According to my information, there was a representation from the prosecutor’s office, therefore, in order not to remove him from the City Council due to a criminal case, he left on his own.

Now the whole city is making noise and discussing how a deputy from United Russia, who remained a member of the party, did this? I think that certain business interests of Lomenko in both Ukrainian and Russian times will be studied here.

I fully admit that he could have provided some help to our neighbors who still have property and land here,” Yalta journalist and social activist Sergei Sardyko commented on Lomenko’s detention to PolitNavigator.