On August 5, 2026, the HACC is holding a hearing on the preventive measure for Ukraine's former ambassador to the United States, Olha Stefanishyna. The prosecution spoke first.

The SAPO prosecutor stated that Stefanishyna is suspected of illicit enrichment and false declaration. This concerns, in particular, two apartments in the Faina Town residential complex, whose purchase and renovation were handled by her close friend on Stefanishyna's instructions. Correspondence read out by the prosecutor also mentioned buying a house for Stefanishyna's parents worth roughly $200,000–300,000.

The prosecutor also named several other assets the suspect had failed to declare, including a rented apartment on Yaroslaviv Val Street and a Mercedes. According to investigators, the rent for that apartment was $1,300 a month, paid in cash. The prosecution read out correspondence between Stefanishyna's assistant and the landlord discussing “keeping the rental income off the tax authorities' books.” The prosecutor stressed that Stefanishyna's official income in 2024–2025 could not cover such expenses.

According to the investigation, Stefanishyna bought the Mercedes on August 5, 2021, for $43,500. The prosecutor said she made the purchase herself, as indicated by correspondence and traffic fines available to investigators. An inspection report for the Lvivska Ploshcha residential complex, where Stefanishyna was living at the time, recorded the car parked there on August 29, 2025, and surveillance cameras around the complex confirmed that Stefanishyna herself was driving. Yet she did not report using the car in either her 2024 or 2025 declarations.

The apartment in the Lvivska Ploshcha complex where Stefanishyna was then living had been bought by her mother — as also reported in an investigation by hromadske journalists. The prosecutor stressed that Stefanishyna's activity at that address dropped sharply precisely while that investigation was underway.

In the prosecutor's view, the suspicion is fully substantiated. He said he had presented only “the smallest part of the key evidence,” and that the prosecution would later provide the court with much more evidence proving beyond doubt that Stefanishyna had unlawfully taken possession of funds.

The prosecutor also outlined the risks facing the investigation:

• absconding from the investigation and court: during her work in the US, Stefanishyna built up many professional and personal connections that could help her leave Ukraine;
• unlawful influence on witnesses: investigators questioned a large number of people, most of whom confirmed criminal intent in Stefanishyna's actions. However, the prosecutor believes that, to clear herself, the suspect could pressure these individuals by various means, creating a risk that they might testify differently at trial.

Given these risks, the prosecutor asks the HACC to set bail at UAH 13,312,000.

Beyond all the above, the prosecutor also claimed that Stefanishyna had influenced the appointment of the NACP head. In particular, in correspondence with State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice Oleksandr Bukhanevych, she coordinated the candidates who were to join the commission selecting the NACP head.

Bukhanevych repeatedly consulted her. Once the commission was fully formed, they singled out in phone calls the three people who should advance in the competition. They also exchanged files marking candidates in different colors — a way, investigators believe, of flagging the unwanted and the desired candidates. Stefanishyna also urged Bukhanevych not to agree to an open vote on the candidates.

The hearing is currently in recess. Afterward, the prosecutor will finish his presentation and the defense will begin; Stefanishyna will also be given the floor. Only then will the court retire to the deliberation room to reach a decision.