A district court in Kyiv is hearing a case in which Gennadiy Viktorovich Balashov is charged with committing criminal offenses under Part 1 of Article 122, Part 2 of Article 398, Part 3 of Article 212, and Part 2 of Article 345 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
On August 22, 2022, Gennadiy Balashov traveled to the United States of America under the “Uniting for Ukraine” humanitarian program (“Uniting for Ukraine”) aimed at providing protection to Ukrainian citizens in connection with the Russian Federation’s military invasion of Ukraine, where he was granted temporary protection. At the time of Hennadiy Balashov’s departure from Ukraine to the United States, the obligations imposed on him by the court, in accordance with the ruling on the application of a preventive measure, were no longer in effect.
The defense repeatedly submitted notifications to the court specifying Gennadiy Balashov’s exact address in the United States; however, on December 6, 2023, in the absence of evidence that Gennady Balashov was in hiding, and in the absence of his defense attorney at the hearing, the court considered and granted the prosecutor’s motion to issue an international arrest warrant for Gennady Balashov.
On December 20, 2023, the court ordered that Gennady Balashov be held in pretrial detention (in the absence of the defendant) and ignored Gennady Balashov’s request to participate in the hearing via videoconference.
Gennadiy Balashov, realizing the illegality and groundlessness of placing him on an international wanted list and imposing pretrial detention, could not regard such actions “as the administration of justice.” He believed that he was, in fact, the victim of a “witch hunt,” which made his return to Ukraine impossible.
On November 11, 2025, Gennadiy Balashov died in the United States.
With the aim of rehabilitating the late Gennadiy Balashov, at the request of his relatives, the BARRISTERS legal team filed a motion with the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv to reinstate the judicial proceedings in the aforementioned criminal case.
As of today, the criminal case has been reinstated, and the BARRISTERS law firm team will continue to defend Gennadiy Balashov’s good name even after his death, refuting the prosecution’s arguments regarding his guilt in the crimes he was charged with during his lifetime.
In addition, the attorneys at BARRISTERS are taking steps to have the name of the deceased, Gennadiy Balashov, removed from the list of individuals against whom, pursuant to Decree No. 502/ of the President of Ukraine dated July 20, 2025,2025 on the enactment of the relevant decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions) were imposed.
The defense in the case is being handled by BARRISTERS LLP partners Oleksiy Shevchuk and Elvira Lazarenko, as well as BARRISTERS LLP attorney Serhiy Derevianko.
Author: Barristers
Source: Barristers Facebook