Ex-MP Tsaryov charged with financing Russian Guard in Crimea – Prosecutor General's Office

Oleh Tsaryov, a former Ukrainian MP from the pro-Russian Party of Regions, was charged with financing the Russian Guard, reported the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office.

According to the investigation, Tsaryov, who fled to Russia in 2014, is currently "actively cooperating with the military and political leadership of the aggressor state with the aim of harming Ukraine's defense capabilities."

The Security Service claims to have collected evidence that a former lawmaker from Viktor Yanukovych's party is financing the armed formations of the Russian Federation in the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea.

The prosecutor's office notes that Tsaryov had real estate and a number of businesses, which he registered under Russian law after the occupation of Crimea and hired Rosgvardiya soldiers to protect the property.

The ex-MP transferred the money for the protection of his manor museum and sanatorium in Yalta to the officially registered accounts of the Russian Guard, the investigation established.

"In fact, the suspect is financing the occupation troops of the aggressor state in the Ukrainian Crimea," the Office of the Prosecutor General writes.

In May 2022, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv found Tsaryov guilty of public calls for separatism, violent change, and the overthrow of the constitutional order. This case against Tsaryov was opened back in 2014, when he supported the aggression of the Russian Federation in the east and in Crimea and was the "speaker of the parliament" of the terrorist organization Novorossiya.

On May 19, 2022, the SBU reported the detention of Tsaryov's brother, who had been living in Dnipro since 2014 and expected to lead Dnipropetrovsk Oblast after its occupation by Russia.

In September 2022, Tsaryov was served new charges for trying to "reach Kyiv" with the Russian occupation troops.