News

”Skhemy” found a Russian passport in the possession of Supreme Court judge Valentyna Simonenko. She resigned in March

Author:
Anhelina Sheremet
Date:

Journalists of the "Skhemy" project discovered another Ukrainian judge with a Russian passport — this is Supreme Court judge Valentyna Simonenko, who resigned in March 2023.

They refer to an extract from Rospasport. According to journalists, the judge, when she still had the surname Smirnova, became a citizen of Russia on April 10, 2003 on the basis that her relative, husband, or parents have Russian citizenship.

At the time of receiving Russian citizenship, Simonenko was already working as a judge at the Sevastopol Court of Appeal in Crimea. As of now, Simonenkoʼs passport is listed as "invalid due to its expiration date."

Her passport was issued in the Rostov region. According to journalists, as of 2015 and 2017, Simonenko was registered in this region.

"Skhemy" suggest that Valentyna Simonenko did not leave Russian citizenship. In a comment to journalists, she denied that she had received Russian citizenship. However, she admitted that she had repeatedly traveled to the Rostov region, where her husbandʼs parents lived at that time. "Iʼm not going to lie, I was really there because we went to see his [husbandʼs] mother. She lived there," said Simonenko.

In March 2023, Valentyna Simonenko submitted her resignation.