Rostyslav Kravets: a lawyer with a flexible conscience, connections and a pro-Russian stance

At first glance, lawyer Rostyslav Kravets seems to be one of the ordinary representatives of his extremely necessary profession. Perhaps he is a little more publicized than others - Kravets likes to quote various media outlets. But this, in the end, is also normal - journalists need to quote someone, so they quote Kravets.

However, in the biography of this lawyer, everything is not as simple and smooth as it seems at first glance. Rostyslav Kravets received his lawyer’s license in 2008, now he heads the lawyer association “Kravets and Partners”, and conducts his practice mainly in Kyiv.

However, Kravets came to the profession from public service. Moreover, she had nothing to do with jurisprudence - before receiving a lawyer’s license, Rostyslav Kravets worked as deputy director of the Agrarian Fund in Ukraine. And his education was not specialized, and studying at the National Internal Affairs Directorate was a pure correspondence course.

However, Kravets passed the qualifying exams, because what kind of education he has - correspondence or full-time - is not important, and the law on the legal profession does not make any difference here. Finally, a lawyer’s qualifications are ultimately assessed by his clients.

Judging by some of the names, they appreciated the qualifications of lawyer Rostyslav Kravets. True, it is not entirely clear in what capacity - as a qualified lawyer, or as a person who has found other ways to solve their problems. Be that as it may, among Kravets’ clients at one time there were a fairly large number of lustrated officials who actively participated in the repressions against Maidan participants. What attracted them to Rostislav Kravets is unknown. Perhaps openly pro-Russian narratives used by his NGO “Lawful State” regarding the war in Donbas:

Perhaps it was the dubious ties with odious representatives of the Ukrainian judiciary, among whom the DACK judges and its chairman Pavlo Vovk were prominent. It is more likely that the latter factor prevailed, but the fact that the ideological views of the lustration "victims" and their defence counsel coincided also played a role.

Kravets became most famous for his lawsuit against the new rules of the Ukrainian language. It was formally filed by a seventh-grader from Kherson, but everyone understood that the teenager was just a screen for someone else. This other person was Rostyslav Kravets’s NGO "Lawful State", which had previously been noticed in the open service of Pavlo Vovk.

The outcome of the lawsuit, which Vovk was handling, was somewhat predictable - it was satisfied. As well as what exactly was behind this lawsuit - it was a public demonstration of his influence to all interested parties. At the same time, it was a transparent hint that the forces behind the lawsuit are connected to Russian ideologues and special services. And they can afford to act in Ukraine without hiding.

Some observers have claimed that the lawsuit is aimed at diverting public attention from Zelenskyy’s falling rating, but these statements were most likely intended to divert public attention from Kravets’ own openly pro-Russian position. Moreover, Kravets has never hidden his orientation - he has filed lawsuits against Hontaryeva, about whom Kvartal 95 was singing the song "the house was burning, the house was burning"; the war with NABU, in relation to which Kravets sent a lawyer’s request to the SSU to check the management’s ties with Russians; public "attacks" on pro-Ukrainian activist Sternenko, etc.

Be that as it may, the stakeholders understood the message correctly - Rostyslav Kravets has enough connections in the courts to make the right decision for his client. In addition, everyone understood that Kravets is ready to interpret his status quite broadly - for an appropriate fee, this representative of the bar can act as a critic of any initiative, and if this is not enough, numerous NGOs under his control will join the case. In addition to the aforementioned NGO "Lawful State", Rostyslav Kravets controls a number of other NGOs, charitable associations, trade unions, etc.

Moreover, the names of some of them coincide too closely with the names of bodies that have a significant influence on the justice system in Ukraine. For example, the NGO “Public Council of Virtue”, which has nothing to do with the Public Council of Virtue - a permanent independent body in the judicial system of Ukraine, which is “appointed to assist the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine in establishing the compliance of a judge (candidate for the position of judge) with the criteria of professional ethics and virtue for the purposes of qualifying assessment.” The status of the Council was first defined in 2016 by the Law of Ukraine “On the Judicial System and Status of Judges.”

Do many people understand this difference? Kravets, of course, understands, but distributes comments on behalf of the NGO “Public Council of Virtue”, forgetting to add that his public organization, despite the coincidence of the name, has nothing to do with the real Public Council of Virtue.

However, some people understand this. In particular, the “Peacemaker” center, which included Rostyslav Kravets in its lists:

But the Ukrainian state is still silent on the matter, although it is known that Rostyslav Kravets is involved in criminal cases against DACK judge Vovk. If we go back to the time of Rostyslav Kravets’s public service, the reason why he was forced to leave the position of First Deputy Director of the Agrarian Fund of Ukraine (by the way, the same one where mice ate thousands of tonnes of grain) has not been established.

However, it was found out that as director of the Centre for Training and Advanced Training of Advocates LLC Rostyslav Kravets earned a very ambiguous reputation. The fact is that in order for an applicant for attorney-at-law status to be admitted to the qualifying exams, he or she must have a sufficiently long legal experience. It is usually not so easy to get it, so the idea to establish the Centre for Training and Advanced Training of Attorneys was truly brilliant.

Moreover, its founders are the Bar Council of Kyiv Region and the Kyiv City Disciplinary and Qualification Commission of the Bar, which takes exams from applicants. One can only guess what opportunities this gives the director of the Centre for Training and Advanced Training of Advocates LLC. As well as the way Rostyslav Kravets uses them - this is a real legend among the Kyiv lawyers.

However, despite this, Rostyslav Kravets does not face any particular problems. The complaint that was filed against him for interfering with the activities of Sternenko’s lawyers ended in nothing. However, how could its consideration have ended when it was filed with the same Kyiv City Bar Council whose company Kravets has been running for so long and successfully?

If someone wants to say something about the possibility of bringing Kravets to criminal responsibility, then, firstly, he is not as bad a lawyer as it might seem at first glance, and therefore acts quite cautiously. And secondly, the status of an attorney-at-law gives him immunity from criminal prosecution - only the Prosecutor General can initiate a criminal case against a current attorney-at-law. By the way, few people paid attention to the fact that the former head of the SSU, Ivan Bakanov, was granted the status of an advocate. The secret is simple: immunity from criminal prosecution. The same applies to Rostyslav Kravets.

And there are many rumours about his connections among the current leaders of the state. Of course, many of them are exaggerated, but they still have a solid basis. And the lawsuit against Hontareva was not a personal initiative of Kravets. So, in summary, we can say with confidence that if anyone needs a lawyer with flexible moral qualities, we recommend Rostyslav Kravets.