Examining transplant Russian judges doling out ‘justice’ in occupied Ukraine
After three and a half years of full-scale war, 20% of Ukrainian territory remains under Russian occupation. As part of its efforts to consolidate the imperial occupation of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson oblasts, Moscow dispatched scores of judges to weaponize law itself. NV presents an investigation into this corps of transplant judges.
Life in Ukrainian lands seized by Russian forces reflects the grim nature of the “Russian world.” It is darkened not only about various forms of terror but also basic hardships. Donetsk oblast, for example, is now facing a major water crisis. With reservoirs drying up and a key aqueduct destroyed, Russian authorities have been strictly rationing supply. Residents of Donetsk now receive water just once every three days, and those in other cities, such as Mariupol, once every two.
The Kremlin cannot solve these everyday problems but continues to focus on priorities it deems important—notably, the gradual erasure of Ukrainian identity in the territories it controls. Moscow is not only imposing Russian culture but also bringing in waves of its own citizens: security officers, bureaucrats, teachers, doctors, construction workers.
One particularly important category of these “settlers” for Russia is judges. They are not only creating a new legal framework in the occupied areas but also issuing rulings aimed squarely at Ukrainians.
According to Pavlo Lysianskyi, a Ph.D. in political science and director of Ukraine’s Institute of Strategic Studies and Security, more than 250 judges have been brought in from Russia to serve in occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson oblasts. The largest contingent came from Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod Oblast—more than 20 people. Perm Krai sent 15 judges, Krasnodar Krai 12, and Rostov Oblast 10.
To track down these judicial transplants, the Eastern Human Rights Group and the Institute for Strategic Studies and Security conducted a large-scale investigation titled Judges of the Occupation Authorities in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, shared exclusively with NV. Researchers analyzed hundreds of court rulings and identified individual judges issuing verdicts against Ukrainians.
The findings suggest the process is colonial in nature.
“The system is built according to the Russian model and includes small claims courts for civil cases, district and city courts for criminal matters, and garrison military courts for cases against prisoners of war and civilians accused of ‘hostile activity,” Lysianskyi told NV.
How Russian “justice” works
Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol were among the first victims of Moscow’s legal machine. After months of defending the city and enduring captivity, they fell into the hands of Russian justice system, with judges hastily issuing guilty verdicts, effectively punishing Ukrainian soldiers simply for resisting Russia’s military aggression.
One example cited by the institute is Leonid Onupko, a service member of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, who is now serving a life sentence in a Russian penal colony. His comrade, Oleksii Kazymov, was initially sentenced to 26 years but later had his term increased to life.
Other Mariupol defenders received similarly heavy sentences: Eskender Kudusov—29 years and six months; Dmytro Brayko and Bohdan Potapov—28 years each; Ruslan Minagulov—24 years.
This judicial repression is not limited to military personnel. Ordinary civilians, from teenagers to seniors, are also caught in the system’s gears.
Sixty-two-year-old Olena Hryhorenko of Starobilsk, for example, received 15 years for allegedly sending her son in Estonia information about Russian troop movements. Another retiree, Olha Tykha, was labeled a spy and sentenced to 18 years.
Two 19-year-olds, Viktor Zakharchenko and Mykyta Polozov, were accused of “treason” and sentenced to 12 years and six months and 13 years and six months, respectively. Twenty-year-old Darya Kulyk of Melitopol was accused of “preparing a terrorist act” and joining a “terrorist group.”
Some charges verge on the absurd. One woman in Kakhovka District of Kherson Oblast was sentenced for “burning a Russian flag.” In Yenakiieve, a man was convicted of “treason” for transferring money “to the accounts of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” In another case in Zaporizhzhya Oblast, the alleged recipient was Ukraine’s SBU security service.
“Using fragmentary or fabricated charges, Russian security agencies are systematically persecuting Ukrainian citizens, violating international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, and basic standards of fair trial,” said Vira Yastrebova, director of the Eastern Human Rights Group.
Enforcers of Putin’s system
Russia began sending large numbers of judges into occupied Ukrainian regions in 2023, with the pace picking up in August and September. All appointments were made by presidential decree.
Occupied parts of Donetsk Oblast received 85 Russian judges; Luhansk, 75; Zaporizhzhya, 60; and Kherson, 35.
The institute’s analysts studied the biographies of those dispatched to deliver “justice” in occupied Ukraine. Many had minimal professional experience—as little as six to eight months on the bench—and previously served as justices of small claims courts in economically depressed Russian regions, handling minor administrative cases.
Some had participated in political repression inside Russia.
One such judge is Dzhamilya Kochegarova from Perm, a city in the foothills of the Urals, who once fined the local coordinator of anti-Putin protests. The European Court of Human Rights later ruled her decision unlawful and ordered Russia to pay EUR6,500 ($7,500) in damages. She now issues verdicts against Ukrainians in Donetsk.
Her colleague from Perm, Svetlana Luchnikova, sentenced four residents of her hometown in 2022 for antiwar statements. She now works in an occupation court in Donetsk Oblast.
Researchers also found that some Russian judges are sending their children to work in occupied Ukraine to jumpstart their careers. One example is Denss Kudriavtsev, the son of a Supreme Court judge in Russia’s Udmurt Republic, who has been appointed to the bench in Kherson Oblast.
Former Ukrainian judges and lawyers have also joined the occupation judiciary.
Among them is Nataliia Kupavska, who spent 38 years as a judge on the Zaporizhzhya Regional Court. Another, Yuliia Krylova–Akimchenko, served as a judge in Debaltseve, Donetsk Oblast, until 2014 and resigned in 2016. She is now working in the “Supreme Court” of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic.”
Investigators also discovered that Olena Vorobei, an employee of an occupation court in Donetsk Oblast, still holds a valid Ukrainian lawyer’s license issued in Donetsk, while her colleague Oleksandr Kushnaryov remains registered as a lawyer in Luhansk Oblast.
Rabid kangaroo courts
According to Ukrainian analysts, occupation courts rely on a standard set of Russian Criminal Code provisions: Article 276 (espionage)—up to 20 years in prison; Article 275 (treason)—up to life imprisonment; Article 205 (terrorism)—also up to life. Trials are often sealed, held without defense attorneys, and defendants frequently show signs of torture.
Ukrainian human rights defenders insist that every judge who has issued even one verdict in occupied territories should be added to sanctions lists and prosecuted for war crimes.
“This pseudo-system of ‘justice’ has become part of the occupation authorities’ repressive apparatus and should be treated as an element of war crimes. All those involved in unlawful verdicts must be held accountable under Ukrainian and international law,” Yastrebova said.
Lysianskyi warned that the lack of international response to these judges’ actions only deepens their sense of impunity.
“Every day of delay means more victims, more ruined lives, and more years behind bars for innocent people,” he said.
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