KYIV, Dec 9 – The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two powerful Ukrainian figures that are believed to have played a major role in derailing the country’s judicial reform to enable corruption in courts.

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, designated Andriy Portnov for “using his influence to buy access and decisions in Ukraine’s court and undermining reform efforts,” the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine said in a statement.

The U.S. Department of State designated Oleksandr Tupitskyi, a former head of the Constitutional Court, “for significant corrupt acts, including acceptance of a bribe while serving in the Ukrainian judiciary,” the embassy said. Tupitskyi spouse was also designated.

The measures are likely to have an earthshattering effect on the Ukrainian judicial system, which has long been the key element of the country’s deep-rooted government corruption. They target people that are thought to have been plotting to defeat the reform effort that could be detrimental to Ukraine.

Portnov was a key legal aide to disgraced President Viktor Yanukovych, whose epic corruption has led to a popular uprising, known as the Revolution of Dignity, in November 2013 forcing him to flee to Russia in February 2014. Portnov also fled to Russia but had come back with the election of Volodymyr Zelensky to the presidency in 2019.

Using his vast legal connections, Portnov has managed to win several court rulings and clean himself of all charges. Portnov’s efforts were instrumental in appointing the allegedly corrupt Tupitskyi as the head of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine.

The measures will probably have a strong impact on the office of President Zelensky, whose top legal advisors are thought to have been working for months to undermine the legal reform by quietly using Portnov’s corrupt network.

Oleh Tatarov, deputy head of the Zelensky’s office in charge of legal issues, has been apparently working with Portnov to derail the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate high-profile corruption cases.

The sanctions are a message for Tatarov and his associates that if the efforts to undermine the judicial reform continue, they may also be targeted, and that will be extremely embarrassing for Zelensky, Vitaliy Shabunin, the head of the Anti-Corruption Center, a non-profit organization, said.

“I advise you to think right now what are your going to do when the United States imposes sanctions on Tatarov, the current deputy head of the Zelensky’s presidential office," Shabunin said.

The U.S. has indicated it is determined to help pro-reformist activists in making sure that the judicial reform and the appointment of special prosecutor in Ukraine is implemented by the end of the year.

“The United States stands beside Ukrainian anticorruption activists and is committed to ending impunity for corrupt actors,” the embassy said on Thursday. “While much work is left to be done, Ukraine has come a long way since the Revolution of Dignity!” (tl/ez)