The Supreme Court of Ukraine found former MP Andriy Derkach guilty of high treason. He was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison

The High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) found former Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach guilty of high treason and illicit enrichment. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

This was reported by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAPO).

Derkach was also deprived of the right to hold positions in state and local government bodies for three years.

According to the NGO Transparency International Ukraine, the court debates lasted from June 9 to 23. The prosecutor considered Derkachʼs guilt to be fully proven by testimonies, evidence, and expert reports.

According to the investigation, in 2019–2020, the then Ukrainian MP regularly met in Moscow with representatives of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, and later held press conferences to discredit Ukraine. Expert reports confirmed both the discussion of bribes to finance this activity and its subversive nature.

According to law enforcement officials, in 2019–2022, Derkach received at least $567 000 from Russian intelligence services and used it for information attacks against Ukraine. The aim is to discredit Ukraine in the international arena, worsen diplomatic relations with the United States, and complicate Ukraineʼs integration into the European Union and NATO. He was put on the wanted list on September 16, 2022.

At the trial on July 13, Derkachʼs lawyers disagreed with the prosecutorʼs position and insisted on the inadmissibility of some of the prosecutionʼs evidence and violations during the pre-trial investigation. In their opinion, Derkachʼs actions did not exceed the limits of his parliamentary powers, and the fact of cooperation with representatives of the Russian Federation is unproven.

• Andriy Derkach fled to Russia in 2022, and was later stripped of his citizenship and placed under sanctions by decree of the President of Ukraine. He is currently a member of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation.
• In September 2020, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on him and four other people suspected of interfering in the presidential election with the support of the Russian government. The Kremlin responded at the time by calling Derkachʼs involvement in the Russian special services "nonsense".

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