Kyiv names Moscow mayor among key figures supporting war industry

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has formally charged Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin in absentia, the agency announced on its official Telegram channel.

According to the SBU, Sobyanin is accused of organising the recruitment of personnel for the Russian Armed Forces in Moscow and implementing measures to support Russia’s military-industrial complex. The charges were brought as part of ongoing criminal proceedings.

This development follows a series of similar actions by the SBU against senior Russian officials. In October, the Ukrainian agency placed Anatoliy Torkunov, rector of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) under the Russian Foreign Ministry, on a wanted list.

Torkunov was charged in absentia under several articles, including encroachment on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, committing crimes by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, and engaging in “war propaganda.”

Earlier, on September 27, the SBU also placed the CEO of Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, Aleksey Likhachev, on a wanted list. He faces similar accusations of violating Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Likhachev had previously been added in 2022 to the database of the Ukrainian website "Mirotvorets" (Peacemaker), which lists individuals considered hostile to Ukraine.

By Tamilla Hasanova