Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko appointed lawyer Oleksiy Shevchuk as a member of the competition commission for the selection of the deputy head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutorʼs Office (SAPO).
This was reported by the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy Anastasia Radina.
She said that in 2023, during the competition for the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the Ethics Council concluded that Oleksiy Shevchuk did not meet the criteria of integrity and professional ethics.
Although this conclusion had legal significance specifically for the competition to the Supreme Judicial Council, the circumstances analyzed by the Ethics Council remain publicly known.
In particular, the Ethics Council indicated that Shevchuk could have used misleading documents. This concerns the participation of the Barristers bar association in a state tender in 2018 using a letter of recommendation from an NGO with a name and logo similar to the "Reanimation Package of Reforms" coalition.
According to the Ethics Council, this could have created a false impression that the recommendation was provided by a well-known public coalition.
The Ethics Council also drew attention to the situation with the registration of the trademark "Court Reporter". In the Councilʼs opinion, Shevchuk could have known about the existence of the journalistic project of the same name by Iryna Salii before submitting an application for trademark registration. According to Salii, in 2020, Shevchuk allegedly demanded €7-10 000 for re-registration of the trademark for her.
Separately, Radina drew attention to the controversial public position of “AO Barristers” regarding Shevchukʼs status — despite statements about his non-involvement in the merger in 2024, he has recently been publicly referred to as a partner and speaker.
"The Law ʼOn the Prosecutorʼs Officeʼ directly requires that a member of the competition commission be honest. Whether this looks like a sign of integrity is up to you," Radina noted, adding that this appointment is the personal responsibility of the Prosecutor General.
What the Council of Prosecutors of Ukraine says
Amidst the public outcry, the Prosecutorsʼ Council of Ukraine published an official explanation about the composition of the competition commission.
They say that the selection of candidates for the commission was announced on November 28, 2025. Only four people submitted documents by the established deadline — three representatives of the prosecutorʼs office and one lawyer. Other lawyers, public figures, or experts did not participate in the selection.
On December 9, 2025, the Prosecutorsʼ Council proposed three candidates from among prosecutors to the Prosecutor General. Later, one of them refused to participate. Due to the lack of candidates, the Prosecutor General, citing the requirements of the law, appointed the only lawyer who participated in the selection and formally met the legislative requirements Oleksiy Shevchuk.
The Prosecutorsʼ Council emphasized that the powers of a member of the competition commission may be terminated early only for reasons clearly defined by law, including a court conviction or a personal statement.
What preceded
Oleksiy Shevchuk is a lawyer and spokesperson for the National Bar Association of Ukraine. The head of the public organization "Holka" Iryna Fedoriv called Shevchuk the lawyer of the deceased former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Ilya Kyva.
It was also reported that in 2023, Shevchukʼs bar certificate was suspended for three months for violating bar ethics. Later, the bar certificate was restored, and Shevchuk was appointed speaker of the Bar Association, which has been headed for 12 years by Lydia Izovitova, an associate of former MP and collaborator of Viktor Medvedchuk.
Several disciplinary complaints have been filed against Oleksiy Shevchuk as a lawyer, in one of which he is accused of trying to influence a journalist from Babel to remove an interview from the publicationʼs website, contrary to the interests of a person with whom Shevchuk did not have a legal assistance agreement at all.
The "CHESNO" movement indicates that, in addition to Kyva, Shevchuk also handled the cases of former regional deputy Oleksandr Onyshchenko, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko, and Svitlana Kryukova, a journalist for the pro-Russian and banned in Ukraine publication "Strana", against blogger Ihor Lachenkov.
In 2020, Shevchuk ran for the Kyiv City Council from the Vitaliy Klitschko UDAR party. He also previously worked as a presenter on the ZIK TV channel.
Previously, journalists also reported on the possible involvement of structures associated with Shevchuk in schemes for illegal travel abroad through the "Shlyakh" system, which further exacerbated the discussion about his integrity as a member of the SAPO competition commission.
What does Shevchuk say?
Lawyer Shevchuk responded to criticism on January 22 after his election to the SAPO competition commission. He stated on his Facebook that after his appointment, a “wave of information attacks, slander, and provocations” began.
He confirmed that he had passed a competitive selection process at the Prosecutors’ Council, and his appointment was formalized by order of the Prosecutor General due to a shortage of candidates.
Shevchuk admitted that he was Ilya Kyvaʼs lawyer, but noted that he had represented him before the full-scale invasion, when Kyva held a position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was responsible for countering drug trafficking. He also denied the accusation of evading military service, stating that he had mobilized and had already completed "many effective processes" in the army.
The lawyer emphasized that he had not committed any criminal offenses, and all allegations of possible abuse by third parties who may have used his name or related structures "will have procedural consequences". According to him, lawsuits against those spreading defamation have already been filed.
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