The police carried out a search at the home of activist Zhelo, who had previously complained to Budanov about corruption

Mykolaiv activist Denys Zhelo. Archive photo: NikVesti

Law enforcement officers carried out a search at the home of Mykolaiv activist Denys Zhelo, director of the law firm «Liberty Group» and former anti-corruption adviser to Vitalii Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration.

Denys Zhelo reported this on his Telegram channel.

According to him, the search was due to take place on 19 June at his place of residence. However, at that time, the activist – who had previously been discharged from military service following a serious accident – was at a border crossing point and was planning to travel to Bulgaria for rehabilitation.

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He claims that at the border crossing point, he was stopped by officers from the Odesa Department of Strategic Investigations of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine to check the «Reserve+» app. According to Denys Zhelo, his mobile phone was then taken from him and he was asked for his access password.

«They placed «spike strips» in front of my vehicle and announced an «urgent search», during which I was even denied the presence of a lawyer,» wrote Denys Zhelo.

Criminal proceedings were opened on 14 April in response to a complaint by Serhii Shcherbyna, a judge at the Zavodskyi District Court in Mykolaiv, under Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — unauthorised dissemination of information with restricted access.

These were court documents which may have contained unmasked personal data. Denys Zhelo claims that he attached these documents to complaints submitted to the High Council of Justice regarding alleged violations by the judge.

The search warrant was issued by Serhii Vovk, a judge at the Pecherskyi District Court in Kyiv.

NikVesti contacted Serhii Shcherbyna, a judge at the Zavodskyi District Court, for comment on the incident. He confirmed that he had contacted the police regarding the circumstances outlined above, but declined to provide further details due to the ongoing investigation.

«Yes, I did report it, but I cannot go into further detail. A pre-trial investigation is ongoing; it’s all confidential, and I cannot disclose any information without the investigator’s permission,» replied Serhii Shcherbyna.

When asked about the long-standing conflict between himself and the activist, the judge replied: «I have no conflict with Mr Zhelo. It is Mr Zhelo who has a conflict with me.»

According to information from NikVesti, as of the time of publication, neither the police press office nor the prosecutor’s office had officially reported on the course of events regarding this criminal case against the activist. It is also not publicly known what Denys Zhelo’s procedural status is in the case.

No charges have been reported against anyone in this case either. According to Denys Zhelo, his mobile phone was seized during the investigation.

Denys Zhelo had previously reported that he had met with the Head of the President’s Office, Kyrylo Budanov. According to him, at the meeting they discussed the fight against corruption within law enforcement agencies and the courts in the Mykolaiv region.

He also lodged disciplinary complaints with the High Council of Justice against Serhii Shcherbyna, the head of the Zavodskyi District Court. For example, in 2025, the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP) identified discrepancies in Serhii Shcherbyna’s 2021 declaration. The judge declared cash savings of over 2 million hryvnias — his own and those of his wife, Svitlana. However, in its report, the NACP stated that he did not have the financial means to accumulate such a sum. According to their data, the judge could have had no more than 1,336,305.37 hryvnias in cash. On this basis, in January 2026, the Vitovskyi District Court opened administrative proceedings against Shcherbyna.

But the official himself did not agree with the conclusions of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption. In a comment to NikVesti, the judge claimed that the NACP’s observations were based on an incomplete account of his family’s income. Consequently, Judge Viktoriia Polishko acquitted Serhii Shcherbyna in the case concerning the inaccurate declaration of over 1 million hryvnias.