Russian invaders broke into the Kherson State University (KSU) on June 14 and announced that from now on the institution would be «managed» by Tetyana Tomilina. After that, the Russian military abducted the vice-rector of the KSU, Maksym Vinnyk, and took him to an unknown destination as Oleksandr Spivakovskiy, rector of KSU, informed the Center for Journalist Investigations.
«In the morning of June 14, two representatives of so-called local occupation «administration» and two soldiers with assault rifles entered the main building of the university. Until this moment, we continued to physically control the space of the KSU and hoped that the occupation «authorities» would not dare to enter the university. But it happened,» Oleksandr Spivakovskyi said.
As he said, occupants «appointed» their «management» of KSU whereas kidnapped vice-rector Maksym Vinnyk was taken to an unknown destination.
Oleksandr Spivakovskiy, rector of KSU
As witnesses told, the abduction happened near the university dormitory. The order to capture Maksym Vinnyk was given byTetyana Tomilina, who oversaw the seizure of KSU.
Together with Tomilina, Tetyana Kuzmich, who was appointed by the invaders as the «head of the regional education department», participated in the seizure of the KSU. In May 2022 she was informed about suspicion in collaborator activity. Tetyana Kuzmich is the head of educational and methodological laboratory of the management of educational institutions of the Kherson Academy of Lifelong Education of the Kherson Oblast Council and the head of the Kherson non-governmental organization «Russian National Community «Rusych». Its activity is described in detail in the investigation of the Center for Journalistic Investigations and Radio Kuresh “Who and how promotes the ideas of the «Russian world” in Kherson?”.
Tatiana Tomilina previously worked as the director of the academic lyceum under KSU and openly expressed her pro-Russian views. Her open love for the «Russian world» once caused a loud scandal. She was dismissed from her position after an official investigation.
Tatyana Tomilina Photo: YouTube screenshot Tatyana Tomilina
As reported, the management of Kherson State University was temporarily moved to Ivano-Frankivsk in April.
«Thanks to this, the seizure of KSU does not affect the educational process, which continues in a distance format. That is why we have the opportunity to pay salaries and scholarships and issue Ukrainian diplomas which are recognized by all civilized countries of the world», as Oleksandr Spivakovskyi emphasized.
Material is prepared by non-profit «Information press center» within IWPR project under the support of the European Union and the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
