Crimean judge's house and land plot confiscated for the second time

In Kherson, a former Ukrainian judge was convicted in absentia, who voluntarily joined the Russian authorities after the occupation. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for collaboration, and his property - his house and land - was confiscated by the court.

This is evidenced by the decision of the Kherson City Court.

The investigation established that the native of Yalta, who previously worked as a judge of the Dzhankoy City District Court, remained on the peninsula after his dismissal in 2017 and later went to work in Russian courts. In July 2024, he was appointed a "judge of the Kherson Regional Court", which the occupation authorities opened in Genichesk.

During the investigation, a number of evidences of his participation in the activities of the illegal judicial body were collected, including Russian decrees on appointment, data from official Russian websites and media publications. The court concluded that the man acted voluntarily, without coercion, realizing that his actions helped the occupiers to assert power in the occupied territory.

The proceedings were considered under a special procedure, as the accused was hiding in the occupied territory. The court found him guilty of collaboration (Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and sentenced him to 14 years in prison with confiscation of all property. In addition, the man was banned from holding positions in state authorities, local self-government, judicial and law enforcement agencies for 15 years.

The court also confiscated all of the convict's property. This includes a 42.5-square-meter house and a land plot.

He was served with a notice of suspicion by the SBU in May 2025. This is not the first sentence for a former traitor judge. According to media reports, it is Stanislav Yurchenko, a native of Crimea, who was appointed a judge of the Dzhankoy City District Court by the President of Ukraine in October 2013. After the occupation of the peninsula began in 2014, he voluntarily defected to the enemy, and in 2017, the High Council of Justice dismissed him from his post. In October 2024, the National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions on Yurchenko, as evidenced by Opensanctions.

According to media reports, he had requested a transfer to work in the Kherson region on his own. Despite his worse-than-average performance, his candidacy was approved after he assured that he was "constantly improving his professional skills and studying case law."

Back in 2023, he was summoned to court as a suspect in high treason. At that time, the Desnianskyi District Court of Kyiv found Yurchenko guilty in absentia and sentenced him to 12 years in prison with confiscation of all his property.

In addition, two more so-called judges working for the occupation authorities in Crimea will be tried. One of them was involved in the sentencing of Crimean activist Fevzi Sagandzhi to 10 years in prison on trumped-up charges by the FSB. The other defendant made about five thousand decisions in favor of Russia.

Анна Бальчінос