Posokhov Ivan Serhiyovych

Candidate for the Anti-Corruption Court — and a Bribery Suspect

Judge of the Sievierodonetsk Court, Ivan Posokhov, submitted documents to participate in the competition for the High Anti-Corruption Court — and passed the interview, where he assured the commission that he personally had never encountered corruption. Meanwhile, NABU, SAP, and SBU recorded his negotiations with a lawyer about arranging a $30,000 bribe to a judge of the Solomyansky District Court for a acquittal verdict.

“We have to start somewhere... 5, 10, 20…”

In a café, Posokhov advised the lawyer to determine the amount herself: “We have to start somewhere... five, ten, twenty… Discuss it there and then I will be with him.” He simultaneously recommended closing the case on the basis of the statute of limitations while this “loophole” is still effective. Incitement to bribery is documented on recordings.

Suspended by the High Council of Justice, bail set at 1.3 million hryvnias

The High Anti-Corruption Court set bail at 1,331,200 hryvnias. The High Council of Justice temporarily suspended Posokhov from the position until June 2026. Before the Council, he insisted that the talks about money were just “fantasies to get rid of a bothersome lawyer.” But the lawyer immediately after the meeting filed a criminal complaint with the SBU.

A system where bribers aim to judge bribers

Lawyer Horbatenko, whom Posokhov recommended for this “scheme,” is connected to a family of judges from Luhansk region, where the mother was convicted by the High Anti-Corruption Court for bribery. Posokhov himself is from the Luhansk judicial system. One region, one circle, one culture of “solving issues.” This case is not about a single judge, but about where candidates to the court with anti-corruption in the name come from.