Position: Judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court.
Sphere of corruption: judicial.
Region of corruption activity: Kyiv city.
Qualification: the actions are qualified under Part Four of Article 368 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Status: at large.
The plot of the case: in late May 2026, law enforcement officers reported new suspicions of corruption involving former Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Knyazev. The media reported that the current judges involved were Zhanna Elenina, Igor Zhelezny, and Iryna Grigorieva.
On May 19, NABU and SAPO announced searches in connection with the Supreme Court corruption case. Investigative actions were carried out at the workplaces, residences, and vehicles of a number of current and former Supreme Court judges.
According to the investigation, three current Supreme Court judges received a bribe for making a decision in the interests of the owner of the Finance and Credit group, Konstantin Zhevago. As reported by anti-corruption authorities, suspicions in this case were also reported to retired Supreme Court judges.
Zhanna Elenina — a Supreme Court judge since 2019, with over 25 years of experience. During a search in 2023, Zhanna Elenina was found with $50,000, $127,750, and €10,000. This money was stored in various places: an A4 envelope, a backpack, and a folder found in the kitchen in a corner of a closet.
The court seized $50,000 because the series and numbers of the banknotes matched the funds previously transferred to Knyazev. At the same time, the Supreme Court refused to seize $127,750 and €10,000 because no physical evidence was found on these funds and they were allegedly not relevant to the case.
Igor Zheleznyy has been a judge of the Supreme Court since 2019. Iryna Grigorieva has been a judge for over 30 years, in the Supreme Court since 2017. Since 2023, Grigorieva has been involved in a corruption case involving the former head of this court, Vsevolod Knyazev. During searches, 50,000 US dollars were found in her and her colleagues' possessions - the series and numbers of these banknotes matched those in the case. The money was seized, but the judge was only suspected at the end of May.
According to the investigation, in March-April 2023, businessman Zhevago transferred $2.7 million to a lawyer through an intermediary so that he could transfer these funds to former chairman Vsevolod Knyazev and the judges of the Supreme Court to make the "necessary" decision.
And already in May, according to the investigation, $1.8 million was distributed between the then-Chairman of the Supreme Court and the judges.
According to NABU, the case concerns 40.19% of shares of the Poltava Mining and Processing Plant, which were purchased in 2002 by a Ukrainian businessman, the owner of the Finance and Credit group, Kostyantyn Zhevago.
In 2023, Knyazev was informed of the suspicion, and the case against him is still being heard at the Supreme Court of Justice. In the same year, NABU searched the homes of a number of Supreme Court judges and seized funds whose series and banknote numbers matched those transferred to Knyazev.
In July 2023, businessman Zhevago himself was informed of the suspicion, and the intermediary was informed in September 2025.
On May 21, the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) imposed preventive measures on two Supreme Court judges in a case of a bribe of $2.7 million for a decision in favor of the owner of the Finance and Credit group. These are Iryna Grigorieva and Igor Zhelezny. The HACC set bail at UAH 2.5 million for Grigorieva and UAH 2 million for Zhelezny.
On May 25, the High Anti-Corruption Court chose a preventive measure for Judge of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court Zhanna Yelenina in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 3 million.
On May 28, 2026, the High Anti-Corruption Court chose a preventive measure for former Supreme Court judge Oleksandr Prokopenko in the form of bail in the amount of UAH 900,000.
Persons potentially involved in corruption schemes: in addition to Elenina, the corruption scheme also involves former Supreme Court Chairman Vsevolod Knyazev, Supreme Court Judge Ihor Zhelezny, Supreme Court Judge Iryna Hryhor'yeva, former Supreme Court Judge Oleksandr Prokopenko, businessman Kostyantyn Zhevago, and an intermediary.
Assets: in her 2025 tax declaration, Yelenina indicated that she owns an apartment in Kyiv, which she purchased in 2016.
In 2025 alone, Yelenina received over UAH 4.7 million in salary.
Her savings include over UAH 2.3 million in cash and over UAH 1 million in a bank account.
Persons who should have reacted: law enforcement agencies responded to the criminal scheme in a timely manner, handing over suspicions to all its participants.
Scandals: According to the Dejure Foundation, Yelenina was part of a panel that ignored procedural violations by the appellate court when considering a criminal case. The Kyiv District Court of Kharkiv found Yuriy Chernyshenko guilty in the case of selling female workers into slavery and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. The Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal overturned the verdict, citing numerous violations during the trial, circumstances indicating the innocence of the convicted, and incorrect classification of the acts. The court sent the case for retrial in the first instance. However, the case was sent to the Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal as the first instance, which passed the verdict without taking into account the comments and re-sentenced Yuriy Chernyshenko to 10 years in prison. The Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal actually copied the overturned verdict of the district court. During the consideration of the cassation appeal, the panel of judges of the High Specialized Court for Civil and Criminal Cases, which included Zhanna Yelenina, also did not take into account the remarks, ignoring procedural violations during the consideration and not indicating the reasons for rejecting the defense arguments. In 2016, the President pardoned Yuriy Chernyshenko.
Sources:
https://supreme.dejure.foundation/elenina-z-m
https://public.nazk.gov.ua/documents/9541961d-0dc4-495a-a9c2-c16d6a3e7ce4