CCU strikes down legal provision under which Chervinskyi was held without court ruling
The Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) has declared unconstitutional a provision of law under which former intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi was held in custody without a corresponding court ruling.
Censor.NET reports this with reference to the CCU’s decision.
CCU considers the complaint.
On April 1, 2026, the Second Senate of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, at a plenary session, considered the case based on the constitutional complaint filed by Roman Chervinskyi regarding the constitutionality of Part 5 of Article 615 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine.
Article 615 of the Code sets out a special regime for criminal proceedings under martial law. Under Part 5 of Article 615 of the Code, "if it is impossible to hold a preparatory court hearing, the preventive measure of detention in custody imposed by an investigating judge or, during the pre-trial investigation, by the head of a prosecutor’s office, shall be deemed extended until the relevant issue is decided at the preparatory court hearing, but for no more than two months."
In the applicant’s view, the challenged provision of the Code, among other things, leads to the loss of effective judicial oversight and makes it possible to imprison a person without examining the substantiation of the charges and the risks provided for by the Code, thereby allowing unreasoned court rulings to be issued.
CCU ruling
Having examined the issues raised in the constitutional complaint, the Court concluded that Part 5 of Article 615 of the Code does not comply with the Constitution of Ukraine.
The Court ruled that the provision of the Code declared unconstitutional will cease to have effect three months from the date of this ruling.
In addition, the Court stressed the need for the Verkhovna Rada to bring the legal regulation established by Part 5 of Article 615 of the Code, which has been declared unconstitutional, into line with the Constitution of Ukraine and this ruling.
Roman Chervinskyi's case
The media reported that the Ukrainian military had been recruiting a Russian pilot for several months to hijack the plane. According to media reports, Roman Chervinskyi was among them. Subsequently, as the SSU noted, the "operation" was carried out over the objections of the SSU and without the consent of the relevant state authorities. As a result, the enemy received information about the deployment of personnel of the Ukrainian Air Force and Ukrainian aircraft at the Kanatove airfield. This allowed the Russian Armed Forces to shell the airfield.
Later, Chervinskyi gave an exclusive interview for Censor.NET in which he spoke about the operation at Kanatove airfield.
In April 2023, the SSU served Chervinskyi with a notice of suspicion in the case of the shelling of the Kanatove airfield in Kirovohrad region by the occupiers. He was detained in the Ternopil region.
Major General Viktor Hanushchak, who was in charge of the military unit to which Colonel Chervinskyi was assigned as deputy commander, told Censor.NET that the operation at Kanatove airfield had been agreed with the top leadership of the Armed Forces. However, the court refused to hear Hanushchak and did not accept evidence in favour of Chervinskyi.
Roman Chervinskyi was one of the intelligence officers who organised an operation in 2020 to detain Russian mercenaries from the Wagner PMC, luring them to Belarus. There, the mercenaries were supposed to board a plane that would later be crash-landed in Ukraine by the Ukrainian special services. However, the operation failed. On 24 June 2021, President Zelensky confirmed the preparation of a special operation against the Wagnerites. Zelenskyy also said that the special operation against the Wagnerites was the idea of other countries and that Ukraine was involved in this issue as much as possible.
In December 2021, DIU intelligence officers Chervinskyi and Semeniuk spoke about the betrayal of the operation. According to Chervinskyi, several people from the President's Office could have leaked information about the operation to detain the Wagnerites. He also said that the Presidential Office threatened the ex-intelligence officers with criminal proceedings.
On 28 December 2023, Colonel Roman Chervinskyi was served a notice of suspicion of attempting to seize USD 100,000 by impersonating an official of the State Fiscal Service
On 17 July 2024, Chervinskyi was released on bail, with his detention extended until 4 August. On 18 July 2024, the court placed Chervinsky under round-the-clock house arrest as part of new criminal proceedings.
