"Yermak Tapes": Supreme Court overturns ruling in favor of brother of OP head in dispute against Geo Leros

"Yermak Tapes": Supreme Court overturns ruling in favor of brother of OP head in dispute against Geo Leros

The Supreme Court, sitting as a panel of judges of the Third Judicial Chamber of the Civil Cassation Court, on 5 August 2026 overturned the ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeal of 30 November 2023 in the case of the claim brought by Denys Yermak against MP Geo Leros and referred the case for a new appellate review.

This is reported by the Telegram channel “Sudom po skhemam” with reference to case No. 757/61570/21-ts.

Substance of the dispute and previous court decisions

In November 2021, Denys Yermak (brother of the Head of the Office of the President Andriy Yermak) filed a lawsuit seeking protection of honour, dignity and business reputation against MP Geo Leros.

The reason was a YouTube video posted by Geo Leros on 27 October 2021 (“Yermak Tapes”), in which the MP alleged Denys Yermak’s involvement in the “sale” of public offices in 2019–2020.

The courts of both instances upheld the claimant:

The Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv (01.12.2022) granted the claim: it declared the information false, ordered Geo Leros to post a video with a refutation on his YouTube channel and awarded UAH 1 in moral damages.

The Kyiv Court of Appeal (30.11.2023) upheld that decision, agreeing that the MP had disseminated factual allegations of a crime without a corresponding court verdict.

Why the Supreme Court overturned the decision

Geo Leros’s defence, in the cassation appeal, emphasised that the courts had failed to take into account an important procedural conclusion of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court: a civil court may not assess circumstances and evidence that are the subject of proof in criminal proceedings.

In particular, the lawyer pointed out that several criminal investigations had been opened following the MP’s statements about the actions of Denys Yermak and “trading in offices”:

• No. 42020000000000646 (SAPO/SSU/National Police);
• No. 42020000000000642 (SBI);
• No. 520200000im00000372 and No. 52020000000000373 (NABU/HACC under Part 2 of Article 369-2 and Part 3 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Conclusions of the Supreme Court panel:

• Disregard of arguments concerning criminal cases: the Kyiv Court of Appeal completely ignored Geo Leros’s arguments that the veracity of the facts set out in the video was being verified by law-enforcement bodies within the framework of pre-trial investigations.
• Violation of procedural rules: in breach of clause “c” of Part 3 of Article 382 of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine, the Court of Appeal did not give any reasons in its ruling for accepting or rejecting the defendant’s arguments regarding the existence of parallel criminal proceedings.
• Protection of innocence falls within the competence of the criminal court: the Supreme Court applied the legal position of the Joint Chamber of the Civil Cassation Court of the Supreme Court of 22.06.2026 (case No. 761/1004/20), which states: “A person’s arguments of innocence in committing a crime must be examined by the court during the consideration of the relevant criminal proceedings, and not by a court of civil jurisdiction when considering a case on the protection of honour and dignity.”

Final cassation ruling

The Supreme Court, presided over by reporting judge S. O. Karpenko, ruled:

• The cassation appeal of Geo Leros’s representative is partially granted.
• The ruling of the Kyiv Court of Appeal of 30 November 2023 is overturned.
• The case is referred for a new hearing to the court of appellate instance, which is obliged to properly examine the circumstances regarding the existence of criminal proceedings and assess the statements in their context.