Court orders arrest of former MP Ivanyushchenko in absentia

The Appeals Chamber of the HACC has arrested a former People's Deputy in absentia in a case involving the misappropriation of 18 hectares of land worth over UAH 160 million, the SAPO reported on Wednesday, UNN writes.

Details

On June 16, 2026, a panel of judges of the HACC Appeals Chamber issued a decision to select a preventive measure in the form of detention for a former People's Deputy of Ukraine from the "Party of Regions," who is suspected of organizing the legalization of property obtained by criminal means, namely 9 land plots with a total value of over UAH 160 million.

"To select for Yuriy Volodymyrovych Ivanyushchenko (...) a preventive measure of detention," the presiding judge announced during the HACC Appeals Chamber session.

Based on the results of the review, the panel of judges of the HACC Appeals Chamber left the defense's appeals unsatisfied and granted the prosecutor's appeal. The ruling of the HACC investigative judge was overturned.

After the suspect is detained and brought to the place of the pre-trial investigation, the investigative judge will decide on the application of this or a more lenient preventive measure. 

This decision was made with a dissenting opinion from one of the judges on the panel.

The ruling enters into legal force from the moment of its announcement, is final, and is not subject to appeal.

In September 2025, former MP from the "Party of Regions" Yuriy Ivanyushchenko, suspected of legalizing 18 hectares of state land worth over UAH 160 million, was declared wanted. 

Case details

According to the SAPO, the investigation established that in the spring of 2021, during a corporate conflict between the former MP and a developer over control of an agricultural market located in the suburbs of Kyiv, the entrepreneur developed an intent to transfer the market's assets to controlled legal entities and individuals.

As the SAPO indicated, "after carrying out a series of actions aimed at leasing the land to a controlled company, these plots were sold to three companies associated with the developer on the basis of sham transactions."

In the process of settling the conflict, the developer and the former MP signed a settlement agreement regarding the joint use of the land mass, in particular for construction. And in September 2021, a confidant of the former official became one of the beneficiaries of the companies that owned the land plots, the SAPO reported.

The SAPO noted that on April 27, 2026, the HACC investigative judge supported the prosecution's position and decided to conduct a special pre-trial investigation.