Petro Poroshenko calls to stop persecution of Roman Chervinskyi
Source: Petro Poroshenko’s speech in the Verkhovna Rada
During his speech in the parliament, the former president of Ukraine and leader of the ‘European Solidarity’ party Petro Poroshenko called on the authorities to stop persecution of Roman Chervinskyi.
Poroshenko noted that selective and biased justice is being used against the officer who fought against the occupiers.
The former president stressed that injustice is unacceptable in any form, and it is especially inadmissible during the war in relation to the Ukrainian intelligence officer.
‘This is the question of our movement to Europe. This is a question of the rule of law. This is a question of independent justice. This is a question of freedom of speech, democracy and parliamentarism,’ Poroshenko stated.
Background information
In 2022, the Ukrainian servicemen tried to recruit a Russian pilot, persuading him to fly a Russian military plane to Ukraine. According to the authorities, the actions of former intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi, representatives of the SBU and the Air Force led to the missile attack on the Kanatove airfield on July 23, 2022. The Security Service of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings against them.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.