Venediktova Iryna Valentynivna

The First Lady of Ukrainian Justice

Iryna Valentynivna Venediktova is one of the brightest and most influential figures in Ukrainian politics and jurisprudence in recent years, who permanently inscribed her name in history as the first female Prosecutor General of Ukraine. A Doctor of Law and professor from Kharkiv, she rapidly rose to the highest tier of power in 2019 as the legal face of Volodymyr Zelenskyy's team, entering parliament from the "Servant of the People" party. In a short time, she managed to lead the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI), head the Prosecutor General's Office, and following a high-profile resignation in July 2022, she moved to the "diplomatic front" — she is currently serving as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. During her tenure heading the prosecutor's office, Venediktova was noted for signing historic indictments against top-tier oligarchs and politicians, including Petro Poroshenko, Viktor Medvedchuk, and the mayor of Odesa, Hennadiy Trukhanov.

Luxury Watches, Pushcha-Vodytsia, and Her Husband's "Personnel Tricks"

Despite her high status, Venediktova's path at the summit of power was accompanied by a series of high-profile media scandals and accusations from anti-corruption advocates. The public and the National Agency on Corruption Prevention repeatedly caught the head of the Prosecutor General's Office on "forgetfulness" in declarations — from an undeclared elite Hublot watch to residing at a discounted rate in a government dacha within the gated community of Pushcha-Vodytsia. Her reputation took a particularly severe hit due to an investigative report about her husband, cybersecurity police colonel Denys Kolesnyk. Journalists uncovered a cynical personnel scheme whereby Kolesnyk resigned from service to receive a severance payment of 750 thousand hryvnias, then returned to the same position after just 10 days. Additionally, Venediktova was harshly criticized for blocking corruption suspicions against certain MPs (notably Oleksandr Yurchenko), and her final dismissal from office in 2022 was explained by the Presidential Office as due to a critical number of traitors and collaborators within the institution she led.