Features of proof in criminal proceedings on assistance to the aggressor state (on the example of the period of occupation of the Kyiv region)

Abstract

The article is devoted to outlining the features of evidence in criminal proceedings about aiding the aggressor state during the occupation of Kyiv region. It has been established that the longer the occupation, the more people go to cooperate with the occupying forces, because the people who remained in the occupied territories need to continue to live, work, study, that is, to coexist with the enemy in the same territory. However, it is stated that a distinction should be made between the actions of a person aimed at survival in the conditions of the occupation of the settlement, and intentional actions that constitute the objective side of the criminal offense provided for in Article 1112 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

It was concluded that obtaining separate procedural evidence is not a one-time act, not a passive activity, but an active purposeful cognitive-practical and mental activity of the subjects of evidence, which consists of separate interdependent and mutually influencing elements: a) search, detection (establishment), and, if necessary, extraction of factual data and their sources; b) verification, assessment of factual data and their sources, their procedural registration (consolidation) and actual giving of factual data and their sources by authorized subjects of the criminal process the value of certain evidence in criminal proceedings.

In addition, the author states that proving in criminal proceedings about aiding the aggressor state is a rather complex process and has its own peculiarities. Firstly, this is due to the fact that the law on criminal liability, which establishes the criminal illegality of an act, does not have a retroactive effect in time (part 2 of article 5 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and therefore they will not be held responsible for the acts provided for Art. 1112 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, persons who committed them before April 23, 2022. Secondly, the pre-trial investigation bodies face difficulties related to constant hostilities near the de-occupied territories, where signs of the specified criminal offenses have been detected. And, thirdly, there is a fairly large percentage of traitors who are hiding from investigative bodies and courts by fleeing to the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine or the territory of the aggressor state.

Attention is focused on the fact that during the occupation of the Kyiv region in February-March 2022, the actions provided for in Art. 1112 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, were not criminally punished, but, unfortunately, even now in many de-occupied settlements, such as Borodyanka, Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel, there are persons who help the Russian Federation.