Kherson resident Babytskyi received a suspended sentence for cooperating with businessman Hirin in occupied Crimea after 2022

Kherson resident Babytskyi received a suspended sentence for cooperating with businessman Hirin in occupied Crimea after 2022

Kherson resident Yuriy Babytskyi helped the well-known Kherson businessman Vladlen Hirin, the actual owner of the chain of hardware supermarkets «33 square meters», run illegal business in the TOT of ARC Crimea. On March 9, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv found Babytskyi guilty of collaborationist activities and sentenced him to three years of probation. He admitted his guilt and pledged to transfer half a million hryvnias to the special account of the United24 initiative to support Ukraine. Hirin himself, according to media reports, was detained in Cyprus at the end of 2024.

This is reported by the Center for Journalistic Investigations with reference to the court verdict.

The court established that Kherson resident Yuriy Babytskyi is a member of a criminal group created by the well-known Kherson millionaire businessman Vladlen Hirin. Babytskyi, as stated in the court verdict, helped Hirin run illegal business in the TOT of ARC Crimea. Babytskyi’s duties included forming applications for the supply and sale of goods on the peninsula.

These goods were sold through the network of LLC «Maxi Crimea», which was illegally registered in June 2014 in the temporarily occupied Dzhankoi of ARC Crimea. Vladlen Hirin was the initiator of this registration; he is the actual owner of the chain of hardware supermarkets «33 square meters» and LLC «Marketing and Analytical Company «Monopoly», which manages the business activities of this supermarket chain.

«This retail chain operates both in the territory of Ukraine and in the TOT of ARC Crimea. The chain is represented by a significant number of legal entities, each of which is registered for a specific hardware supermarket to organize its business activities», – the court verdict states.

Vladlen Hirin’s criminal group engaged in illegal business in Crimea despite the fact that after February 24, 2022, Ukraine prohibited any business activities and currency settlements with Russia. 

In addition, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladlen Hirin decided to illegally register a hardware supermarket «Stroy Makh» in Crimea. Hirin was assisted in its operation by employees of the aforementioned LLC «MAC «Monopoly». 

In Crimea, as stated in the court verdict, LLC «Novostroy Crimea» and another «individual entrepreneur» were also registered for illegal business activities. 

The court found Yuriy Babytskyi guilty of collaborationist activities under Part 4 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He fully admitted his guilt, agreed to cooperate with the investigation, and pledged to transfer half a million hryvnias to the special account of the United24 initiative to support Ukraine.

The sentence is three years of imprisonment, with release from punishment on probation for one year, without confiscation of property.

Additionally, Babytskyi is prohibited for ten years from holding positions in state authorities, local self-government bodies, or state or municipal enterprises. The court verdict has not yet taken legal effect.

Vladlen Hirin ran for the position of mayor of Kherson three times, was a candidate for people’s deputy of Ukraine, and ran for the Kherson City Council from the «Our Edge» party in 2015. But he lost all these elections.

In 2020, Hirin was nominated by the presidential party «Servant of the People» for the Kyiv City Council but withdrew his candidacy before the elections.

In November 2024, Cypriot law enforcement detained Vladlen Hirin, his son, and wife on suspicion of creating a criminal group involved in money laundering.