Borisov's military commissar case: lawyers recuse Odesa judges

The court hearing in the criminal proceedings against the former head of the Odesa Regional Territorial Center for Manning and Social Support, Yevhen Borysov, which was held on October 3 in the Primorsky District Court of Odesa, was postponed.

According to an Intent correspondent, the hearing lasted several hours with interruptions.

For the meeting on October 3, the specialized defense prosecutor's office in the Southern region prepared a motion to impose a preventive measure on Borisov in the form of detention. And Borisov's defense filed a motion to disqualify the judge. So we started with this. However, after several hours, the hearing was postponed until next week.

Yevhen Borysov is accused of: unauthorized leaving the place of service, evasion from service and forgery of documents. The preparatory hearing was held on May 2, 2025, in the Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa. At that time, the accused filed a motion for the criminal proceedings to be conducted by a collegial court consisting of three judges.

On September 30, 2025, the court received a request from the defendant's defense counsel to hold a court hearing via videoconference, as he, a lawyer, resides and has a fixed place of work in Kyiv and will not be able to attend the hearing due to his employment in another court hearing in the Supreme Court.

The Prymorskyi District Court granted the motion and scheduled the hearing for October 3. However, at the hearing on October 3, the judges were recused.

According to Intent's sources, Borisov may be trying to delay the case in this way. Earlier, investigative journalist Yevhen Plinsky reported that a number of lawyers' associations and citizens had posted bail of 44 million for Yevhen Borisov. However, his lawyer denied this.

In 2023, journalists conducted an investigation and found out that the family of the head of the Odesa Regional TCC and JV had purchased millions of dollars worth of real estate and cars on the Spanish coast. And this was during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At first, Borisov himself said that he was "not aware" of the family's property in Spain, and then that his wife was engaged in retail trade there and he did not "get involved" in these matters.

On July 22, 2023, the former Odesa military commissar was notified of suspicion on three charges: illicit enrichment, unauthorized leaving the place of service, and evasion from service. These sanctions provide for up to 10 years in prison in case of conviction.

Юлія Химерик