In the case of former President Viktor Yanukovych's seizure of the Sukholuchchya hunting grounds, the ex-president was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the SAP announced on Tuesday, writes UNN.
On January 20, 2026, the panel of judges of the High Anti-Corruption Court announced a guilty verdict against the former President of Ukraine. The court found the ex-president guilty of seizing a forest land plot in the Sukholuchchya village council area in Kyiv region, with an area of 17.5 hectares and an estimated value of over UAH 22 million, i.e., committing a crime under Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
The verdict, as stated, also provides for "deprivation of the right to hold positions in state authorities and local self-government, positions in bodies, institutions and organizations related to the performance of organizational and administrative or administrative and economic functions, or to perform such functions under a special authority for a period of three years, with confiscation of all property belonging to him by right of ownership."
The accomplice of the former President, as reported, was found guilty of committing a crime under Part 5 of Article 27, Part 5 of Article 191 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. At the same time, the court released the person from serving the sentence on the grounds of the expiration of the statute of limitations.
The court's verdict enters into force thirty days after its pronouncement, unless it is appealed.
Case summary
In 2007, the former President (at the time of the crime – Prime Minister), as reported by the SAP, with the aim of seizing state property, namely a forest land plot of the Dnipro-Teteriv forestry and hunting farm in the territory of the Sukholuchchya village council of Vyshhorod district, Kyiv region, initiated the adoption of a number of decisions that led to the alienation of the aforementioned land from state ownership.
To implement the criminal scheme, according to the prosecution, the former President's accomplices involved their close associates, who applied to the Kyiv Regional State Administration with applications for the allocation of land plots up to 1 hectare, and subsequently - for changing their intended purpose, which later allowed the land to be freely transferred to a firm controlled by the former President.
Subsequently, in 2009-2011, a hotel and restaurant complex was built on this plot, which was used by the ex-president for personal needs.
The investigation of these facts began in 2014. Until November 2019, the case was investigated by the Special Investigations Department of the Prosecutor General's Office. Then the case was transferred to the SAP and NABU.
Given that all the accused are on the wanted list, special judicial proceedings (in absentia) were conducted against them.
Recall
On February 27, 2023, law enforcement officers completed the investigation into the suspicion of fugitive ex-president Viktor Yanukovych and three other individuals in seizing a 17.5-hectare land plot in the Kyiv region - the "Sukholuchchya" hunting grounds.