Judge from Odesa region dismissed for schemes with conscripts

The High Council of Justice has decided to dismiss the head of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court of Odesa Region, Valentyn Zaveriukha, from his post. He is suspected of involvement in the organization of a scheme to illegally transport men liable for military service abroad to avoid mobilization.

This was reported by Slidstvo.info.

Earlier, the judge appealed to the HCJ with a request to close the disciplinary proceedings, referring to his mobilization to the Armed Forces, but this request was not granted.

The judge became the head of the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi City District Court in 2023. That same year, in March, the NABU and the SAPO opened criminal proceedings against the men for illegal travel abroad with the help of judges from the same court. Zaveriukha himself was among the defendants.

In October 2024, the HCJ opened a disciplinary case based on the NABU's complaint. Subsequently, in December, the judge tried to stop its consideration, arguing that he was serving in the army, but the HCJ refused. The Council noted that judges are not subject to mandatory mobilization, and the judge joined the army after the criminal proceedings were opened.

In January 2025, he was temporarily suspended from the administration of justice and his dismissal was initiated. The following month, law enforcement officials announced the exposure of an organized group that helped men illegally leave Ukraine and receive a deferral from mobilization.

According to the investigation, the scheme involved the massive adoption of court decisions on the alleged independent upbringing of a child by a father on fictitious grounds. This allowed them to avoid mobilization and travel abroad under the pretext of childcare.

Investigators found that the participants in the scheme created a so-called "back office" of the court on the basis of a law firm and promoted their services through social media. The cost of one such "decision" was $3,500. In total, more than a thousand such cases have been documented.

The judges were notified of suspicion of organizing the scheme. At the end of February 2025, the court imposed a bail of 3 million hryvnias on him. Due to non-payment of the bail, he was taken into custody, while reducing the alternative bail to UAH 1.75 million.

In April 2025, according to anti-corruption authorities, he was released on bail. After that, the court ordered him not to leave the Odesa region without permission, to report changes in his place of residence or work, not to contact certain persons, to surrender his passports and to wear an electronic bracelet.

In early March 2026, the indictment against the participants in this scheme was sent to court. And on April 14, 2026, the High Council of Justice unanimously upheld the decision to release Zaveriukha.

According to the data for 2025, he received more than 310 thousand hryvnias of salary in the judicial system, as well as almost 300 thousand hryvnias of payments as a military serviceman.

Also in April, the High Council of Justice brought to disciplinary responsibility a judge of the Podilskyi City District Court of Odesa Oblast, Oleh Ivinskyi, and imposed a disciplinary sanction in the form of a motion for dismissal.

Анна Бальчінос