A disturbing situation is unfolding in Odesa, where Ukrainian authorities have detained Olga Panchenko, a lawyer widely respected for her uncompromising stance in politically charged cases. Panchenko is part of the defense team representing individuals targeted in the controversial case against scientist Oleg Maltsev, a prosecution openly labeled by Belgian human rights observers as “fabricated” and driven by the personal vendetta of Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officer Yevheniy Volosheniuk.
The news, initially reported by Ukrainian journalists at Priboi News, describes how, on April 15, officers from the Odesa branch of the SBU, together with prosecutors, stormed Panchenko’s residence. Despite numerous documented procedural irregularities recorded by a representative of the Regional Bar Association present at the search, authorities proceeded with Panchenko’s immediate arrest. Even more shocking, the arrest occurred within a case where Panchenko herself serves as the defense attorney—a flagrant violation of both professional guarantees and basic common sense.
This arrest didn’t come out of nowhere. Olga Panchenko has openly shared with her colleagues that she faced continuous threats and psychological pressure aimed explicitly at pushing her out of Maltsev’s defense team. Online harassment included direct death threats and threats of revealing her personal address, fostering an environment of fear aimed at silencing her advocacy. This targeted intimidation, now culminating in her arrest, flagrantly violates the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers—both explicitly endorsed by Ukraine.
The attack on Panchenko fits into a broader and more sinister trend. Already two male attorneys working on Maltsev’s case were forced to withdraw after authorities threatened them with forced mobilization into military service. This is no random bureaucratic error; it’s a calculated pattern aimed at systematically undermining and crippling defense teams.
The role of the SBU in this scandal deserves separate scrutiny and condemnation. Instead of safeguarding national security and upholding democratic norms, the Security Service of Ukraine has increasingly acted as an unchecked instrument of political persecution. In Panchenko’s case, the SBU openly disregarded legal standards and professional protections, choosing instead to intimidate and silence lawyers through threats, procedural abuses, and outright repression.
Ukraine, a nation publicly committed to democratic reforms and European standards, appears to be rapidly sliding toward outright repression. The actions of the Odesa authorities—especially the SBU—are increasingly difficult to distinguish from those characteristic of authoritarian regimes.
There is no justification, political or otherwise, for such blatant persecution of lawyers simply doing their jobs. Olga Panchenko’s arrest isn’t just an attack on one lawyer or one case. It’s a direct assault on the rule of law and signals a worrying direction in which Ukrainian authorities are choosing political expediency over democratic values. This behavior is not only unacceptable—it’s dangerous. Ukraine risks alienating the international community, which has increasingly voiced its concern about the escalating repression of civil liberties and judicial independence.
Read more: The Price of Defense: Lawyers Under Pressure in Ukraine
We previously wrote about Dr. Maltsev case