Chervinskyi on change of pretrial measure: Yermak is gone, so perhaps pressure on judges has eased
Former intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi was surprised by the decision of the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv to change his pretrial measure to a personal commitment.
He made this statement in a comment to Censor.NET.
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"It seems to me that this decision was inevitable and long overdue. But we were all surprised by it, because everyone understood that this was some kind of political issue. It has different grounds and foundations than the legal system. Perhaps this decision is linked to a shift in the judges’ perspective on the process itself. Maybe the pressure on them has eased.
After all, we can see that Yermak is no longer there. It’s possible that he was the main person overseeing this issue on a daily basis. And now, Zelenskyy probably doesn’t have time to personally keep track of everything, since he has plenty of other areas where he’s facing problems. Although this court decision is lawful and understandable, we simply cannot make any progress on the case because the preliminary hearing is being held in a single session that has already been going on for two years," Chervinskyi noted.
The former intelligence officer emphasized that the judge is now more or less accepting the defense’s position:
"He can see that what we’ve been saying from the very beginning—since the first hearings, back in July or August 2024—is now coming true. Our claims are now backed up by documentation—the SSU fabricated this so-called crime back then. In reality, this complainant in the case is an ordinary smuggler who, thanks to this provocation he carried out against Shtanko and me, was able to effectively complete his smuggling scheme involving a container of cigarettes and receive it already ‘cleared through customs’ on Ukrainian territory. In other words, everyone here was pursuing their own agenda: the complainant—to get this contraband container through and complete his scheme—and the SSU—to hold Shtanko accountable, and then, a few years later, to drag me into this mess as well. The judge has more or less grasped and seen all of this. The evidence we provided confirms all of this."
According to Chervinskyi, he is now free to travel within Ukraine but is still barred from traveling abroad.
When asked how much longer this case might drag on, he noted:
"It will take a long time. But if the judge proceeds at a more or less reasonable pace, the case could be closed in just a few hearings. After reviewing their evidence and seeing that it’s worthless, he could close this case within a month or three. If he holds hearings even once a month, as he’s doing now, that’s basically two or three hearings, and then we can start talking about something. However, so far he’s been avoiding evaluating the evidence. He says this is not the right stage of the legal process. It is precisely during the examination of the evidence that we will be able to prove our case and compel him to issue certain requests, because one of the key points is to submit a request for international legal assistance to the United Arab Emirates and receive a response from there that will put an end to this entire proceeding. We have already obtained it through legal channels—via the legal services of other companies in the UAE. But the judge does not accept this as 100% proof. He can do so only after receiving a similar response through authorized bodies that will provide him with this answer. Right now, he is artificially dragging out this process. He could have done this at the very beginning, but he denied us this request. Therefore, we expect him to do so after the preliminary hearing is over. We’ll see when that happens."
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.
- On April 1, 2026, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) ruled that the provision of the law under which former intelligence officer Roman Chervinsky was held in custody without a court order was unconstitutional.
- On August 3, the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv changed Chervinskyi’s pretrial detention to personal recognizance.
