Traitor Medvedchuk’s entourage retains influence and positions in the Ukrainian advocacy system

People who collaborated with state traitor Viktor Medvedchuk for years and shared his pro-Russian ideology, even after his detention and sending to Russia, continue to retain influence and key positions in the Ukrainian legal profession.

This is stated in the story by Anastasiya Usenko on Bihus.Info .

In 2012, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the Bar and Legal Activities,” the National Bar Association of Ukraine was created, a professional organization that automatically included all lawyers in the country. This structure unites self-government bodies that influence who is issued a lawyer’s certificate and who is deprived of it.

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From the beginning of the creation of the National Association, it was headed by Lydia Izovitova, who is called

From the very beginning of its creation, the National Association was headed by Lidiya Izovitova, who is known in the media and among lawyers as "Medvedchuk’s man". Despite the fact that her term of office expired in 2022, she is still the head of the association.

Iryna Fedoriv, founder of the Golka initiative, notes: "She has served her 10 years - that’s a fact. They don’t hold elections, they say martial law. But listen, we understand that these are just fairy tales, look at the Supreme Court, there is a Grand Chamber. And under martial law, people held elections and elected a new composition of the Grand Chamber."

Since the early 2000s, Izovitova and Medvedchuk have been "crossing paths" in the Union of Advocates of Ukraine: Viktor Medvedchuk was its founder, and Lidiya Izovitova was its vice-president. At the same time, Izovitova held a position in the High Council of Justice, which was responsible for the formation of the judiciary.

Lawyers complain that for more than a decade of Izovitova’s "rule", the National Bar Association and the Bar Council have not expressed their positions on historical state events.

For example, in 2014, the Ukrainian National Bar Association did not condemn the dictatorial laws of 16 January and did not express a position on the actions of the Yanukovych regime and the beating of people on Maidan during the Revolution of Dignity. At that time, a group of lawyers signed a motion of no confidence in the leadership of the Ukrainian National Bar Association.

In 2016, neither Izovitova nor the National Bar Association headed by her reacted in any way to the "register of lawyers" created in the so-called "DPR".

Already in 2023, on the website of the National Bar Association, Izovitova criticised a draft law registered in the Verkhovna Rada that proposed to introduce criminal liability for lawyers working in the occupied territories, recognising the legitimacy of the occupiers’ authorities.

"Since 2014, the leadership of the National Association has not said a single word about Russia’s actions. No prosecution has been initiated against a single traitor and collaborator," says lawyer and now a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Illya Kostin.

Zoya Temnokhudova, a former parliamentary assistant to Viktor Medvedchuk, holds an important position in the structures of the Ukrainian bar.

Temnokhudova was not only an assistant, but also shared the ideological values of the politician Medvedchuk. In particular, in 2020, in an interview with local media, she noted that she was impressed by the ideas of a peaceful Ukraine that Medvedchuk defends.

Temnokhudova is a lawyer from Transcarpathia, as well as a deputy of the Transcarpathian Regional Council from PZZHM (formerly known as OPZZH).

In 2022, the Transcarpathian Bar Council elected Temnokhudova as its representative to the Higher Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Bar of Ukraine. This structure controls the passing of qualifying examinations by lawyers and disciplinary proceedings.

Temnokhudova refused to make any comments to Bihus.Info: “Anastasiya, I’m sorry, I don’t communicate with journalists about this..”. When asked whether Temnokhudov considers Viktor Medvedchuk a state traitor, the woman replied: “Have a good evening.”

Another lawyer is Ihor Kyrylenko. In the 1990s, he worked for the international law firm B.I.A.M., co-founded by Medvedchuk. He was also a consultant to the Union of Advocates of Ukraine, which Medvedchuk headed at the time.

Kyrylenko also represented Medvedchuk in courts. In particular, in the case of the ban on the publishing of Vakhtang Kipiani’s book The Case of Vasyl Stus, where Medvedchuk did not like the mention of him.

The historian Kipiani recalls that in court, Kyrylenko’s lawyer was making faces and accusing Stus of being an agent of the Russian system: "Kyrylenko exceeded his mandate as a defence lawyer. He was actually the same politician as Medvedchuk in this regard."

In addition to Viktor Medvedchuk himself, Kyrylenko represented in court the interests of his brother, Serhiy, who owned some of the companies in the traitor’s family orbit.

In 2020, Kyrylenko became a deputy of the Kyiv City Council from the OPFL party. He is currently a member of the Kyiv City Council’s regulatory commission.