President appoints two new judges in Kherson region

President of Ukraine <b>Volodymyr Zelenskyy</b> has appointed two new judges in Kherson region. According to his decrees, <b>Alla Rybas</b> and <b>Natalia Kuzmenko</b> became judges.

The relevant decrees were published on the website of the President of Ukraine.

In particular, Natalia <b>Kuzmenko</b> started working as a judge of the Kherson District Administrative Court.

<b>Alla Rybas</b> was appointed a judge of the Bilozersky District Court. Her appointment followed a successful confirmation of her professional qualifications: although in 2023 the judge was seconded to the Novovolynsk City Court in Volyn, in 2025, based on the results of the qualification assessment, Rybas was recognized as suitable for the position. Based on this decision, the High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine made a submission that led to her appointment to a permanent position.

These staff additions are part of a set of measures aimed at restoring the judicial system to full operation in the de-occupied and frontline districts of Kherson region.

In addition, new judges have been appointed to the courts of Dnipropetrovs'k, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Khmelnytsky and Zhytomyr regions. The relevant decrees were published on the official website of the President.

Earlier, the Kherson City Court found former judge Yulia Berlimova guilty of treason and collaboration. She had been working as a judge since 2009, and during the full-scale invasion of Russia, she headed the Genichesk District Court of Kherson region.

During covert investigative actions, law enforcement officers received correspondence in Berlimova's telegram, which indicates that she was passing information to the enemy. The judge sent information about former police officers who had been tried for corruption and drugs, photocopies of indictments, personal data and possible addresses of employees of the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support with a pro-Ukrainian position, and also informed the occupiers about employees of the Genichesk District Court.

Three Ukrainian citizens testified in court, in respect of whom the judge considered motions to change and extend preventive measures in the name of the Russian Federation in July-August 2023. A Russian flag was hanging at the hearings, Berlimova wore a robe, referred to Russian legislation, spoke Russian and behaved confidently, without signs of coercion. The information about the signatures on the documents was confirmed by handwriting analysis.

Катерина Глушко