Russian citizen who served as Ukrainian Supreme Court's deputy chief charged with corruption

On September 23, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) announced charges against Bohdan Lvov, a former deputy head of the Ukrainian Supreme Court, for money laundering. Lvov's case has drawn attention due to his concealed Russian citizenship and history of corruption scandals. He was fired from the Supreme Court in 2022 due to his foreign citizenship, which sparked calls for reform in the judiciary.

The NABU did not disclose Lvov's name, but confirmed that the charges were directed at him. Lvov served as head of the cassation division and deputy head of the Supreme Court from 2017 to 2022. During this time, he allegedly amassed assets worth around Hr 26 million ($580,000), including real estate and land, by involving a subordinate in the scheme.

This scheme involved registering the illicitly acquired property in the name of Lvov's mother to conceal evidence of the crime. Lvov has denied the allegations. In 2021-2022, he acquired the assets, and the NABU further charged a former subordinate of Lvov and the subordinate's mother. The Public Integrity Council had previously concluded in 2017 that Lvov did not meet ethics and integrity standards.

Despite this, he was appointed to the Supreme Court. Lvov has also been investigated for allegedly assisting a member of the High Council of Justice in extorting a $500,000 bribe for favorable court rulings. He has denied these charges as well. The current Supreme Court, created in 2017, has faced numerous corruption scandals, with 22.2% of its judges and 28.8% of its judges potentially violating ethics standards.

The European Union has demanded reforms in the Supreme Court, but the Ukrainian authorities have yet to implement these changes. In June 2026, the former head of the Supreme Court, Vsevolod Kniazev, was sentenced to five years in jail for bribery.