Zelenskyy appointed three new judges to the Odesa Court of Appeals

Three judges who previously served in courts in the Odesa region and had diverse professional backgrounds have been appointed to new positions at the Odesa Court of Appeals. Among them are a judge whose integrity had been questioned by civil society experts, a professor and attorney, and a judge from the Primorsky District Court of Odesa.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed decrees appointing Ruslan Abukhin, Olena Tavlui, and Oleksandr Prysakar as judges of the Odesa Court of Appeals.

Prior to his appointment,Oleksandr Prysakar worked at the Izmail City and District Court in Odesa Oblast and previously served as its head.

The Public Council on Integrity raised concerns regarding Prisakar . Specifically, the questions concerned the value of a Toyota RAV4, a garden house worth 2.8 million hryvnias, and approximately 195 court rulings issued in Russian between 2010 and 2013. During his qualification assessment, he explained that the parties to criminal proceedings at that time typically chose Russian as the language of the proceedings.

In his 2025 declaration, Prisakar listed an apartment in Izmail with an area of 71.8 square meters, a room with an area of 18.5 square meters, and a land plot with an area of 600 square meters. His wife owns a garden house in Shabo with an area of 127.1 square meters, valued at 2.8 million hryvnias in the declaration.

The family also drives a 2011 Mitsubishi Lancer and owns a 2017 Toyota RAV4.

Prior to her appointment,Olena Tavlui worked as an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Law at the National University “Odessa Law Academy” and held a license to practice law.

Tavlui’s 2025 declaration lists a 32.5-square-meter apartment, a 154.3-square-meter rented apartment in Odesa, and a 2014 Ford Fiesta. Over the course of the year, she received 101,300 hryvnias in salary from the Odessa Law Academy and nearly 110,000 hryvnias in income from independent professional activities.

Her husband, Valerii Tavlui, received over 1.02 million hryvnias in salary and 60,000 hryvnias from the sale of personal property in 2025. The couple also declared 1.586 million hryvnias in cash.

Prior to his appointment,Ruslan Abukhin served as a judge on the Primorsky District Court of Odesa.

In his 2025 declaration, Abukhin listed an apartment in Odesa with an area of 32.6 square meters, a garden house with an area of 121.6 square meters, and a land plot with an area of 432 square meters in Tairove. He also declared a 2008 Opel Astra, 3.671 million hryvnias, and $5,800 in cash.

In 2025, the judge received 1.65 million hryvnias in salary.

Previously, media outlets reported on his cash savings and his use of real estate owned by relatives. Specifically, in 2024, reports mentioned 2.7 million hryvnias in cash and property that the judge used but which was registered in his mother’s name.

Ірина Глухова