Ukraine's High Anti-Corruption Court sentenced sitting member of parliament Oleksandr Yurchenko to nine years in prison on September 11 after finding him guilty of taking a bribe. Judges also stripped him of the right to hold certain public positions for three years and ordered the confiscation of his property.
The verdict was announced by a panel of judges at the High Anti-Corruption Court, according to the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which reported the ruling.
How the Case Reached Court
The indictment against Yurchenko was sent to court back in August 2021. Judges found him guilty of receiving an illegal benefit as an official in an especially large amount.
In a separate episode of the case, the court reclassified his actions as receiving an illegal benefit in exchange for influencing the decision of an authorized person. However, he was released from punishment on that count because the statute of limitations had expired.
Pending any appeal, the court left unchanged the preventive measure previously imposed on the lawmaker: bail of more than 3 million hryvnias. The verdict takes legal effect 30 days after it was announced, unless it is challenged in an appellate court.
The Bribery Allegations
Prosecutors accused Yurchenko of asking his assistant, Ivan Fishchenko, to have $13,000 delivered to him in exchange for submitting proposed amendments to a draft law on waste management. In case materials, that sum was referred to as "treats," a label that gave the case its informal name in Ukrainian media coverage.
A further $200,000 was allegedly intended for members of a parliamentary committee to secure the adoption of legislative changes favorable to a foreign company.
What the Anti-Corruption Court Does
The High Anti-Corruption Court, often referred to by its Ukrainian abbreviation VAKS, was created to hear cases against senior officials accused of corruption as part of reforms Ukraine committed to under pressure from international partners, including the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. It began operating in 2019 and has jurisdiction over top corruption prosecutions brought by the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.
A Related Case
The Yurchenko verdict follows another high-profile ruling at the same court earlier this year. On February 9, 2026, the appeals chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court issued a final verdict against fellow member of parliament Anatoliy Hunko, convicting him of abuse of influence. Hunko received a sentence of four years in prison without confiscation of property and was taken into custody in the courtroom immediately after the ruling.
