From bribery to rear: mobilization as a tool to escape responsibility

The story of the mobilization of the former head of the State Fiscal Service, Roman Nasirov, demonstrated: those accused in top corruption cases are willing to mobilize, likely just to avoid punishment for their crimes.

At the same time, such accused individuals are mobilized into rear units. For example, Nasirov planned to perform the duties of a sapper in Kyiv in the 101st Separate Guard Brigade of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

However, cases where defendants mobilize to avoid responsibility are not uncommon.

Here are a few similar examples.

Ruslan Zhurylo, former head of the board of JSC "United Mining and Chemical Company"

Zhurylo, along with former deputy Mykola Martynenko, is involved in a NABU case regarding the misappropriation of 17.28 million dollars from the company SkhidGZK. The SAPO also accuses him of causing damages to UMCC amounting to 300 million UAH in export schemes.

He was mobilized in April 2023, leading to the suspension of proceedings against him. According to Censor.net, he was mobilized to the position of a logistics sergeant.

Yuriy Zontov, brother of the former head of OASK

He is accused of fraud, incitement to bribery, and lying in a declaration. Recently mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was revealed just a few days ago on April 8. Therefore, the question of suspending the proceedings has not been addressed yet.

In the apartment used by Zontov, millions of dollars in cash, antiques, family photos, and mysterious 100 shekels were found. Notably, he is most remembered due to the NABU photos from the search of Zontov’s apartment, where detectives found a safe stuffed with money.

Pavlo Hvozdenko, former deputy director of the State Water Agency

Hvozdenko is accused of extorting and receiving a bribe of 8 thousand US dollars from a representative of a legal entity. According to the investigation, this bribe was intended for signing a contract for the biological reclamation of the Bucha Reservoir (84 ha) located in the village of Horenychi, Kyiv-Sviatoshynskyi district, Kyiv region.

In October 2022, Hvozdenko was mobilized into the National Guard, and since then, proceedings against him have been suspended.

Ihor Demyanchuk, first deputy head of Ternopil Regional Military Administration

Demianchuk was mobilized in March 2024 into the Armed Forces of Ukraine as the chief of the civil-military cooperation group of the unit’s staff, resulting in the suspension of proceedings against him.

According to the prosecution, the head of the Ternopil RMA Mykhailo Holovko and his deputies Ihor Demianchuk and Ihor Hayduk persistently demanded local businessman and volunteer to provide more than 2.4 million UAH in bribes. This money was demanded for the signing of work completion certificates by the communal enterprise of the Ternopil Regional Council, and for the payment of arrears by the Ternopil RMA to a LLC for work already completed and accepted in 2022. They were caught receiving a part of the bribe worth 600 thousand UAH.

Ihor Hayduk has already been sentenced to 8.2 years in prison. Due to Demyanchuk’s mobilization and suspension of proceedings against him, he has not yet received a verdict.

Vitaliy Tsvihun, former head of the branch "Production Support Center" of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia"

Tsvihun is involved in a case regarding causing more than 92 million UAH in damages to the "Production Support Center" branch of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" during the procurement of fuel from the company "Vog Aero Jet".

He was mobilized in August 2023 to the position of head of the clothing service of one of the military units in Chernivtsi. For a time, he attended court hearings via video link from the Chernivtsi Appeals Court. Later Tsvihun informed the court that his commander does not allow him to attend court hearings. However, soon the court took measures to ensure he could participate in court sessions.

In September 2024, Tsvihun’s defense filed a motion to suspend the proceedings, but the court refused. The reason for the refusal was that Tsvihun was serving in the rear unit. After that, Tsvihun transferred to another military unit, which may indicate that he is taking deliberate actions to avoid responsibility.

Danylo Mizin, deputy head of the branch "Production Support Center" of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia"

The same situation applies to another figure in the same case, Danylo Mizin. In May 2022, the court suspended the proceedings against him because he was mobilized, and his place of service was near the combat zone. In August 2024, it was revealed that Mizin is now serving as the chief of the supply company warehouse in Kyiv, which led to the resumption of proceedings and the setting of a court hearing date. However, on the designated date, Mizin did not appear as he was allegedly sent to the combat mission area.

The court issued a summons for Mizin to appear at the next court session, but he did not show up. His defense filed a motion stating that the defendant could not appear in court as he was on annual leave in Bulgaria. Notably, the order for leave was issued on the day of receiving the court summons.

Ihor Kalinichenko, assistant to the People’s Deputy from "Servant of the People" Anatoliy Hunkov

The HACC suspended the consideration of the case against the assistant to the People’s Deputy Anatoliy Hunkov, Ihor Kalinichenko, since he was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Ihor Kalinichenko, along with Anatoliy Hunkov, was accused of extorting and receiving a bribe from a representative of LLC "Agroform-2019". According to the prosecution, the money was demanded for leasing state-owned land belonging to the research farms of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences. The total amount of the bribe was 221 thousand dollars, of which 85 thousand were to be transferred as a down payment, and the rest after the harvest.

Anatoliy Hunkov was recently found guilty and sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment. Kalinichenko was mobilized in October last year to the position of personnel psychological support officer, forcing the HACC to suspend proceedings against him.

Hennadiy Dykyi, mayor of Bila Tserkva

The HACC suspended the case against the mayor of Bila Tserkva, Hennadiy Dykyi, accused of abuse of power, in connection with his military service.

According to the investigation, Dykyi intended to cause damage to the local budget. Back in 2018, on his proposal as mayor, the Bila Tserkva City Council of the Kyiv region decided to purchase real estate. However, it later turned out that the value of this real estate was inflated from 4.5 million UAH to 24 million UAH.

In January 2023, the case was referred to court. But already in March 2024, Dykyi was mobilized, forcing the HACC to suspend the case investigation.

Luka Kril, judge of the Turkiv district court of the Lviv region

Mobilized in March this year and is serving in Lviv region, but the proceedings against him were not stopped as he has the opportunity to join court hearings via video link.

Luka Kril was exposed on two instances of bribery: first in 2019 and again in 2020. The first time the judge demanded 1000 euros to close a case on drunk driving. The next time, he was receiving the second part of the money for not holding the defendant administratively liable.

In January 2025, the High Council of Justice decided to hold the judge of the Turkiv district court accountable and applied a disciplinary sanction in the form of a recommendation for dismissal.

Corrupt judges who have already been sentenced

The Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court repeatedly suspended the hearing of appeals against the sentence that sentenced Judge Serhiy Lazyuk of the Dzherzhynskyi District Court of Kharkiv to 7 years of imprisonment. He was conscripted into military service.

The Appeals Chamber of the HACC suspended the hearing of an appeal against the sentence that sentenced Judge Lala Novik of the Dnipropetrovsk District Court to 5 years of imprisonment for receiving an unlawful benefit. She mobilized on the day the verdict was announced.

Additionally, there’s Judge Olha Panchenko from the Kharkiv District Administrative Court, whose first-instance court sentenced her to 5 years in prison. However, the appeal was suspended due to her mobilization. She was mobilized to the position of sanitary instructor at the medical post of the 4th rifle battalion (for the protection and defense of state objects).

There are dozens of such cases where the court has suspended proceedings against defendants due to mobilization. Consequently, defendants can often evade responsibility.

Why is this? In the event of the mobilization of a figure, the law provides for the right to suspend proceedings but does not provide for the suspension of the limitation period. Thus, some defendants use mobilization to completely escape punishment, hiding behind service in rear units and living a peaceful life.

The only solution to this situation is to amend Article 49 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to provide that the statute of limitations is suspended in the event of the defendant’s mobilization.

Center for Combating Corruption