On February 25, 2026, the HACC continued examining evidence in the case of former Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Kniaziev, who is accused of organizing a scheme to obtain bribes in exchange for court rulings.

During the hearing, the prosecutor submitted materials from covert investigative actions, including recorded conversations and screenshots of messages between the subscriber identified as “Kniaz” (Vsevolod Kniaziev) and attorney Oleh Horetskyi.

According to the prosecution, these materials have references to the need to “support K.” The prosecutor believes that it was about businessman Ihor Kolomoiskyi. The defense strongly rejected that interpretation, stating that there is no proof of this whatsoever.

Among the recorded fragments of conversation were the following lines:

Horetskyi: “I got part of it on me, the rest is cashless.”

Kniaziev: “Alright, I’ll smooth things out. Don’t know yet how this plays out, but I’ll work on our guys.”

In the prosecutor’s view, this conversation may indicate the possible involvement of other judges in the processes being discussed.

Later conversations also mention “Zh.” which, according to the prosecution, may refer to Kostiantyn Zhevaho. The covert surveillance materials have the following phrases:

Kniaziev: “Fine, let it stay with you.”

Horetskyi: “Better if I handed it over — storage’s tricky.”

Kniaziev: “...I’m not gonna just hand it out here and there.”

The defense insists that “Kniaz” is not Kniaziev at all, but an entirely different economic court judge with the same surname. They also argue that Horetskyi was speaking with different people in these conversations. In addition, the defense sought to have the recordings declared clearly inadmissible as evidence. However, the court denied that request.

The proceedings then moved into closed session because the court will examine information containing attorney-client privilege.

Vsevolod Kniazev is charged with receiving a $2.7 million bribe. According to investigators, Kniaziev, in collusion with notary Kyrylo Horburov and lawyer Oleh Horetskyi, orchestrated a scheme to receive bribes in exchange for favorable court decisions.