A lawyer from Ternopil has been appointed as a judge in the Lviv District Court.

Lawyer Iryna Sidorova from the Ternopil region has been appointed as a judge of the Lviv District Court. The relevant decree was published on the President's Office website on December 9. Iryna Sidorova is the wife of the former head of the Ternopil local prosecutor's office, who was dismissed due to suspicions of bribery.

Iryna Sidorova has 12 years of experience as a lawyer. In recent years, she has lived with her husband in Kremenets, where she engaged in legal practice. Her appointment as a judge of the Lviv District Court was also announced on social media by her husband, Vitaliy Sidorov.

“This appointment is not just an official recognition, but the result of many years of hard work, high moral principles, and sincere dedication to justice. Ahead of you lie new heights, and I am confident that you will overcome them with dignity,” noted Vitaliy Sidorov.

Iryna Sidorova has submitted her candidacy for the position of judge of the Lviv Court of Appeal since 2019. The last time she filled out a declaration for the judge position was in March 2024.

Additionally, Vitaliy Sidorov was controversially dismissed from his position as head of the Ternopil local prosecutor's office due to extortion in 2016. On May 12, 2016, NABU detectives detained three employees of the Ternopil regional prosecutor's office on suspicion of receiving illegal benefits exceeding UAH 300,000. Two of them – the head of the Ternopil local prosecutor's office and one of the regional heads – were notified of suspicion. This case is still pending in the courts. According to the website “20 minutes”, in 2020, after reviewing the appeal in Khmelnytskyi, it was returned to NABU. After that, the charges against Vitaliy Sidorov were changed from attempted bribery to abuse of power.

On November 12, 2020, the Eighth Appeals Court of Lviv reinstated Vitaliy Sidorov as head of the Ternopil local prosecutor's office. The court also ordered the Ternopil regional prosecutor's office to pay him the average salary for the entire period of forced absence, which amounts to approximately UAH 350,000. His wife, Iryna Sidorova, was the lawyer in this case.