Documentation of russian war crimes in Ukraine continues
On June 8, 2026, the Komunarskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia sentenced two Russians to 12 years in prison as war criminals for appropriating the company “Melitopol SweetCherry”. This was reported by the project “Book of Executioners of the Ukrainian People,” as informed by the portal Prompolitinform.
What is known about the criminals
Abramov Oleksandr Volodymyrovych (born 01.05.1968) — native of Kaluga, russia.
Tax ID: 402708518651, SNILS: 13926688101, passport: 2913572692 issued 17.05.2013 by the russian Federal Migration Service for the Kaluga Region in Kaluga. Registration/residence address: Kaluga Region, Kaluga, Voskresensky Lane, building 17, apt. 17.
Gorbunov Ihor Mykolayovych (born 10.05.1968) — native of Volgograd, russia. He is the general director of the russian company LLC “Yuzhny Proekt,” registered in Volgograd.
Tax ID: 344205783762, SNILS: 14468535487, passport 1813842248 issued 23.05.2013 by the russian Federal Migration Service for the Volgograd Region in Volgograd. Residence/registration address: Volgograd Region, Volgograd, Latoshynska Street, 48D.
Both appeared in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporizhzhia region in the first weeks of the full-scale russian invasion and introduced themselves to employees of the captured Ukrainian agricultural enterprises as “new investors from Moscow.”
Circumstances of the crime
With the help of russian military and representatives of the occupation administration, Abramov and Gorbunov seized the property of three Ukrainian agricultural enterprises: LLC “VKF “Melitopol SweetCherry”,” LLC “Vrozhayny,” and PE “Almin-98.”
On March 27, 2022, armed russian military in balaclavas broke into the central office of the enterprises in Melitopol. They beat a security guard, broke down doors, and, threatening with weapons, took control of the premises.
On April 2, 2022, the production facilities of the enterprises in the villages of Sadove and Kostyantynivka were also seized by force with the help of the military.
Abramov and Gorbunov periodically visited the sites in a white Mercedes-Benz GL without license plates, psychologically pressured employees, threatening dissenters with being sent “to the basement,” and forced them to harvest crops for shipment to russia and temporarily occupied Crimea.
To give their actions a semblance of legality, on June 17, 2022, a mirror company — LLC “PKF ‘”Melitopol SweetCherry” — was registered in the russian registry with a legal address in Krasnodar, with Abramov voluntarily becoming its director.
The founder of this company was the russian LLC “Yuzhny Proekt” from Volgograd, whose general director is Gorbunov. After that, Abramov submitted documents to the occupation “Interdepartmental Commission” requesting that their enterprise be appointed “temporary administrator” of the Ukrainian companies, cynically arguing that the legal owner had allegedly “withdrawn” from management.
Based on these applications, in the fall of 2022 and summer of 2023, the occupation authorities issued illegal orders and signed transfer-acceptance acts. According to them, all movable and immovable property, land plots, machinery, and remaining products came under Abramov’s official control.
Having seized the property, the convicts launched commercial activities in the interests of the russian group of companies “MAGMA,” whose management included Gorbunov. They entered into contracts with russian counterparties and actively sold Ukrainian crops, including flax seeds and apples, and in July 2024 even registered the trademark “Melitopol Cherry” with Rospatent for their russian firm.
The verdict
The court found Abramov and Gorbunov guilty of violating the laws and customs of war (Part 1, Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Each was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment. The term of punishment will begin to run from the moment of their actual detention.
In addition to the prison term, the court fully or partially satisfied the civil claims and ordered the convicts to jointly pay over UAH 170 million in material damages to LLC “VKF “Melitopol SweetCherry” over UAH 35 million to LLC “Vrozhayny,” and UAH 1 million to the owner of the enterprises.
The actions of the convicts were qualified as a war crime against property, as they took place in the context of an international armed conflict, and the appropriation of private property was not justified by any military necessity. The machinery, land, and agricultural stocks were used not for the needs of the military or civilian population, but exclusively for selfish purposes — for the personal unlawful enrichment of the convicts under occupation conditions.
The criminal proceedings have been entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations under No. 22024080000001664 dated November 6, 2024.
Photo: “Book of Executioners of the Ukrainian People”
