Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) conducted searches in the Uzhhorod city council and in the office of Mayor Bohdan Andriiv on Nov. 1, Hromadske reported, citing a source in law enforcement agencies.
The searches are allegedly connected to cases of illegal border crossings by local deputies and civil servants, RBC Ukraine reported, citing its sources.
The SBU has not made an official comment.
Andriiv was elected to the city council of Zakarpattia Oblast's regional center in 2010 for the pro-Russian Party of Regions, the CHESNO watchdog movement said.
He also ran unsuccessfully for the Verkhovna Rada, the country's parliament, in 2019 on the candidate's list of the Opposition Bloc, another pro-Russian party formed largely by former members of the Party of Regions.
Andriiv was elected Uzhhorod's mayor with the support of the Revival party in 2015 and was later re-elected in 2020.
According to a decision by the National Security and Defense Council, starting from January 2023, lawmakers, prosecutors, officials, and representatives of local authorities are not allowed to go abroad without legitimate reasons.
Martin Fornusek
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