Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed acting governor of the occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson, was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison by a Ukrainian court on Wednesday.
The court in Odessa found Saldo guilty of high treason, collaboration with Russian occupiers and justifying Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Saldo's assets are also to be confiscated.
The judgement is not yet final and can be appealed, according to the court's decision that was published online.
Saldo was mayor of the city of Kherson between 2002 and 2012. He has been a key Kremlin-backed figure in the region of the same name since the start of the all-out Russian invasion in February 2022.
After the occupation of Kherson, Saldo was appointed by Moscow as head of the Russian military administration there and subsequently as "acting governor" of the region.
