Photo: Suspilne
Former Makariv District Court judge Oleksii Tandyr has been sentenced to nine years in prison for a fatal traffic accident in May 2023 that killed National Guard serviceman Vadym Bondarenko, Suspilne reports.
The Sviatoshynskyi District Court in Kyiv found Tandyr guilty of causing the fatal crash while under the influence of alcohol. Bondarenko was killed at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kyiv.
The trial lasted more than three years. Tandyr denied guilt and declined to make a final statement before sentencing.
On May 26, 2023, Tandyr, who was then head of the Makariv District Court, struck 22-year-old National Guard serviceman Bondarenko at a checkpoint on Beresteiskyi Avenue, at the entrance to Kyiv from the Zhytomyr highway. The crash occurred shortly before the start of the nightly curfew. Bondarenko died at the scene, and Tandyr was detained.
Investigators alleged that Tandyr attempted to falsify forensic evidence to avoid confirmation that he had been intoxicated at the time of the crash. According to the investigation, he submitted water and saliva for testing instead of urine.
In December 2023, several months after the crash, Tandyr transferred some assets to his wife and divorced her. The move effectively put assets beyond the reach of claims by Bondarenko’s family, which had sought their seizure. Authorities managed to freeze only a plot of land and funds in Tandyr’s bank account, while his apartment and parking space remained beyond the reach of the seizure, according to the report.
In January 2026, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Tandyr’s prolonged detention without the possibility of bail violated his right to liberty and security. The court ordered Ukraine to pay him €2,100 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage and €250 for legal costs.
