Pivdennnoukrainsk official sues mayor over beating and calls on him not to delay the process

Mariia Drozdova, deputy mayor of Pivdenoukrainsk, has filed a lawsuit against Mayor Valerii Onufriienko for physical violence. She urged the mayor not to avoid court hearings.

The official posted this on her Facebook page.

According to Mariia Drozdova, the incident occurred in March 2022 right at her workplace.

«As a local government official, I was physically assaulted by the head of the community. The case was investigated by law enforcement officers, and the trial has been going on for four years now», she wrote.

The official noted that the case is constantly being delayed due to challenges, postponements, illness or business trips of the participants in the process.

«All this was part of a scheme aimed at only one thing — to avoid responsibility. And for more than three years now, he has been succeeding in this», added Maria Drozdova.

According to her, after Valerii Onufriienko was reinstated as mayor, the harassment and pressure on her and the witnesses intensified.

«We are constantly living in tension and the limit of patience has already been passed. Everyone is tired. We are just waiting for justice», the woman said.

She noted that she had decided to make the case public. She believes that this will help to finally complete the trial. The deputy mayor also appealed to Valerii Onufriienko and urged him not to ignore the court hearing scheduled for 27 October at the Arbuzynskyi District Court.

In addition, on that day, the court will consider the prosecutor's motion to remove Valerii Onufriienko from the office of mayor.

As a reminder, on 15 September, at a session meeting, it became known that Mayor Valerii Onufriienko had filed a complaint with the Security Service of Ukraine against deputies from the political party «European Solidarity». He believes that their actions may fall under Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and contain signs of an attempt to forcibly change or overthrow the constitutional order or seize power.

The mayor's statement was preceded by a conflict that occurred at the previous session meeting in late August. At that time, Deputy Mayor Mariia Drozdova said that conflict situations were being artificially created in the executive committee.

As you know, in April 2024, the dismissed mayor of Pivdennnoukrainsk, Valerii Onufriienko, was reinstated in his position.

Resignation of Valerii Onufriienko

On 27 April, the website of Pivdennnoukrainsk City Council published a draft decision on the early termination of the powers of the mayor, Valerii Onufriienko. The draft decision on the early termination of his powers was initiated by Olena Petryna, head of the Ethics and Legality Commission and a member of the European Solidarity.

In a note of explanation to the document, she claimed that the mayor of Pivdennnoukrainsk had repeatedly violated the law and even beaten his deputy, Mariia Drozdova. Pivdennnoukrainsk newspaper «Contact» also reported that the mayor was deprived of the right to carry the weapon he had been issued for the duration of martial law because of this incident.

He was later notified of being suspected of committing a crime.

On 16 June, the deputies of the Pivdennnoukrainsk City Council declared the work of Mayor Valerii Onufriienko unsatisfactory and terminated his powers early.

Valerii Onufriienko became mayor in November 2020. He ran as a candidate of «Servant of the People» and won with a 1% margin of victory.