The Chairman of the High Council of Justice (HCJ), Hryhoriy Usyk, has found himself at the center of a high-profile scandal. According to the Office for the Cleansing of the Judicial System, the official is allegedly helping his son, Maksym Usyk, a former prosecutor and lawyer, to obtain a judicial mantle.
Maksym Usyk, born in 1986, began his career in the Darnytskyi district prosecutor's office in Kyiv, where he worked for three years as an assistant prosecutor and less than a year as a prosecutor. After that, he moved to the private sector: he worked for the law firms "Alexandrov & Partners", "MGM Law Group" and "Derevyanchuk, Makarenko & Partners". It was there that he remained until the start of the full-scale war.
With the beginning of mobilization, Usyk Jr. got a job as a legal advisor at military unit 3078 of the National Guard of Ukraine. His official salary is about 20 thousand hryvnias. It was this decision that aroused suspicion among the public: it is difficult to support a family with two children on such an amount, so employment could only be a cover to avoid mobilization.
According to unofficial sources, it was Hryhoriy Usyk who could have helped his son get a position in the National Guard without going to the front lines. Thus, the young lawyer allegedly received the status of a military serviceman without the risk of being on the front lines.
Military unit 3078, where Maksym Usyk works, is mainly engaged in economic activities - purchasing canned goods, vegetables, and other products for National Guard units. According to available information, Usyk Jr. performs legal work, preparing claims and lawsuits to collect penalties from suppliers.
Despite his modest official salary, the career ambitions of the son of the Supreme Judicial Council chairman are not limited to the National Guard. According to anti-corruption activists, he is actively preparing to apply for a position in the judicial corps, using the support of his father, who has a key influence in the justice system.
If these suspicions are confirmed, the story of “evasion” could turn into another test for the transparency of judicial reform and the independence of the High Council of Justice.
