Former Kherson Governor commits suicide at hospital in Kyiv

Gennady Laguta, 49-year-old ex-governor of the Kherson region committed suicide at a Kyiv hospital.

Deputy of the Kherson Regional Council from the European Solidarity Party Sergei Khlan confirmed that the politician committed suicide.

Gennady Laguta served as the head of the Kherson regional administration from October 2021 to July 2022. Prior to that, he served as deputy chairman of the Kherson Regional Council from We Live Here Party of Kherson's former mayor Igor Kolykhaev.

He left the region after Russia kicked off the special military operation in Ukraine. On March 14, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that the Russian troops took control of Kherson. The Russian Armed Forces established military and civil administrations in the controlled cities of the Kherson region in late April.

In July 2022, Gennady Laguta told Ukrainian journalists that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had occupied more than 20 settlements in the Kherson region.

On July 9, 2022, Ukrainian President Zelensky dismissed Gennady Laguta from the post of the head of the Kherson region.

Laguta's associates claim that he would often be accused of treason. According to Sergei Khlan, Laguta killed himself over accusations of surrendering the region to Russia.

"He was accused of surrendering the Kherson region, although his duties did not contain a word about defence preparations," Sergey Khlan, Deputy of the Kherson Regional Council said.

Gennady Laguta is the only representative of the regional government who did not flee from Kherson after the start of the Ukrainian conflict. Instead, he ensured the evacuation of documents and of people, Khlan added.

In February, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said that Gennady Laguta was suspected on two counts: fraud and forgery of documents. Laguta faced a prison term of up to 12 years if found guilty.