Dec. 24, 2025, 12:15 p.m.
(PHOTO: zahist.ua)
In Odesa, a court has seized the property of the head of the land commission of the Rozdilnyansky City Council. The official is suspected of taking an $8,000 bribe to facilitate the lease of a land plot.
This was reported by the Center for Public Investigations, citing a ruling by the Kyiv District Court of Odesa.
The court granted the investigation's request and seized the property of the city council member suspected of extortion and receiving a bribe to influence the resolution of a land issue.
According to the pre-trial investigation, in September-December 2025, the suspect insisted on transferring funds to her and eventually received USD 8 thousand. According to law enforcement officers, the bribe was a payment for securing a positive opinion of the Standing Committee of the Rozdilnyansky City Council on Land Relations, as well as for preparing a draft decision on concluding a lease agreement.
The land in question is a plot of almost 93 hectares intended for commercial agricultural production. The land is located on the territory of the Rozdilnyanska community outside of settlements. The decision to lease the land plot was made by the city council on December 3, 2025, after which the parties signed a lease agreement for a period until September 30, 2026.
On December 18, 2025, the person involved in the case was officially notified of being suspected of taking a bribe. The relevant article of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of five to ten years, with confiscation of property and a ban on holding certain positions.
During the investigation, law enforcement officers found that the suspect owned a significant amount of real estate. The court seized, in particular, a 190.2-square-meter family recreation center building, a 45.4-square-meter residential building, a 756.7-square-meter warehouse, a 59.2-square-meter apartment, another 62.9-square-meter residential building, and a 0.7367-hectare land plot.
The court ruling prohibited any registration actions in relation to this property, including its sale, division or merger.
The seizure was applied to prevent the concealment of assets and ensure their possible confiscation in case of a guilty verdict. The decision can be appealed to the Odesa Court of Appeal within five days, but the seizure is subject to immediate execution.
The Center for Public Investigations also found out who exactly the law enforcement suspects are in this case. According to the official website of the Rozdilnyansky City Council, the permanent commission on land relations, construction and administrative-territorial structure is headed by Larysa Torbynska. She is a member of the city council from the Odesa regional organization of the All-Ukrainian Union "Batkivshchyna" and was elected from the electoral district #4.
In addition to her work in the city council, Torbynska works as a pediatrician-neonatologist at the Odesa Regional Children's Clinical Hospital.
The information on the property seized by the court matches the data specified in the official's declaration filed on March 24, 2025. It states that the MP owns a 2008 Suzuki Vitara, purchased in the same year for 350 thousand hryvnias.
For 2024, she declared a pension of 136,392 hryvnias and a salary at the regional children's hospital of 283,379 hryvnias, which averages about 35,000 hryvnias per month.
The declaration also includes cash: 351 thousand hryvnias, 33 thousand 200 US dollars, and 18 thousand 500 euros.
And in early December, the BES announced new suspicions to Odesa City Council member Iryna Kutsenko and six other defendants in the case of embezzlement of budget funds. According to the investigation, more than UAH 7 million was written off to help non-existent patients under social programs, and officials could receive up to 15% of the kickbacks.
Анна Бальчінос