Viktoriya Gayvoronskaya: Ukrainian Lawyers Defend Justice and Kharkiv During War
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Vocal.Media
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2026/05/21
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen and Ivan Goncharov (Translator, English-Ukrainian)
Viktoriia Valentynivna Hayvoronska, also rendered Viktoriya Gayvoronskaya, is a Kharkiv-based Ukrainian advocate and senior bar leader. Admitted to practice in 1999, she holds advocate certificate No. 870 and conducts individual legal practice in Kharkiv. She serves as Chair of the Council of Advocates of Kharkiv Region and appears in Ukraine’s free legal-aid system as a regional official, reflecting roles in bar governance, ethics, lawyer training, and access to defence counsel for vulnerable communities and defendants.
Ivan Goncharov is a Ukrainian immigration lawyer and founder of the Law Office of Ivan Goncharov & Partners. Based around Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Krakow, he advises citizens, foreigners, and stateless persons on visas, residence permits, Schengen/SIS entry bans, citizenship, international protection, deportation, and appeals. A Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University graduate with LLM, MIL, and PhD credentials, he chairs the Migration Law Committee at the Kharkiv Bar Council and lectures for lawyers on professional ethics.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen interviews Viktoriya Gayvoronskaya, with Ivan Goncharov translating, about Kharkiv lawyers’ response to Russia’s full-scale invasion. Gayvoronskaya describes advocates joining territorial defence, supporting displaced colleagues, aiding military personnel through charitable foundations, and confronting the ethical challenge of defending Russian suspects. The interview highlights the Kharkiv Bar Council’s wartime coordination, legal aid, sacrifice, and commitment to the right of defence.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: What was the first reaction for Kharkiv-based lawyers with regards to the full-scale invasion?
Viktoriya Gayvoronskaya: The full-scale invasion was very unexpected for us—for people living in Kharkiv, in Lviv, and for Ukrainians across the country. However, we had received information and warnings from the security services about the movement of Russian troops near Ukraine’s borders.
Jacobsen: How did those early warnings from security services shape your expectations?
Gayvoronskaya: Lawyers who were used to working with paper and pens were forced to take up arms and defend Kharkiv, including through territorial defense. Lawyers, trainee advocates, and legal assistants joined this effort.
Lawyers who usually fight in court with pens and paper took weapons and joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine to resist Russian troops. Advocates and legal assistants from Kharkiv also joined the defence of Ukraine.
Unfortunately, we have information that four Kharkiv advocates died at the front, along with one legal assistant. In total, five members of the legal community were killed because of this war.
Some members of the Kharkiv legal community became volunteers and learned new skills in logistics, transporting humanitarian goods, and working as drivers.
From the first days of the full-scale invasion, the Council of Advocates of Ukraine and regional councils of advocates coordinated mutual assistance. The Council of Advocates of Kharkiv Region worked closely with other regional councils, including those in western Ukraine, to provide cooperation, support, and emergency help.
Jacobsen: How rapid coordination among regional councils of advocates change the traditional role of the legal community during wartime conditions?
Gayvoronskaya: Many lawyers and their families were displaced. Women lawyers also relocated. Thanks to colleagues from the western regions, many were able to move to safer areas of western Ukraine or abroad, including Europe and Canada. Some Kharkiv lawyers are now in Canada after being forced to leave because of the war.
Through mutual efforts and cooperation with other regional bar councils, while many Kharkiv lawyers—both men and women—joined the armed forces, their family members were able to reach safer places in western Ukraine or leave Ukraine for safer countries
Before the war, there was a charitable fund that helped pensioners, accident victims, and people in difficult circumstances. Now, the Kharkiv-Slobozhansky charitable fund focuses on helping those affected by the war.
We support those lawyers who are defending our land. We purchase necessary items for them, starting from clothing and extending to more substantial equipment and supplies.
Jacobsen: What kinds of needs have been most urgent for lawyers serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine? How has the Bar Council prioritized support?
Gayvoronskaya: Before the full-scale invasion in 2022, the Kharkiv Bar Council already had a charitable foundation in the Kharkiv region dedicated to supporting its lawyers. This foundation, called the Kharkiv-Slobozhanshchyna Foundation, was created to provide assistance to lawyers facing difficult life circumstances, including health issues, car accidents, or illness of close family members.
After the full-scale invasion, the foundation continued its work. It now provides assistance to lawyers serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, supplying items ranging from basic necessities to larger equipment such as generators and clothing.
The Council of Advocates of Ukraine also established a national charitable foundation after the full-scale invasion. This foundation supports lawyers across Ukraine who are in difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, many lawyers have experienced damage or destruction of their homes and offices as a result of the war.
In addition to humanitarian support, there have been changes in Ukrainian legislation. Amendments to criminal procedural law reaffirm the principle of equality of arms, ensuring equal procedural status for both the prosecution and the defence.
The Criminal Code of Ukraine now includes provisions addressing war-related crimes—offences that arise specifically in the context of armed conflict. Lawyers of the Kharkiv Bar Council had not previously worked with such cases.
Under Ukrainian law, any detained person has the right to defence. However, when law enforcement agencies began detaining Russian soldiers accused of shelling Ukrainian cities, many Kharkiv lawyers were unwilling to represent these suspects.
Each time there is an issue within the lawyers’ community in Kharkiv, we gather at the council and discuss it.
Usually, when there is a misunderstanding, dispute, or misinterpretation within the Kharkiv Bar Council community, we prefer to meet in our office and resolve it through discussion. In
February 2022, we gathered at the council office and raised the question of why we should defend those who were shelling our city.
Jacobsen: How did lawyers in Kharkiv reconcile the emotional reality of defending an invaded city with the professional duty to uphold the right to defence?
Gayvoronskaya: We revisited the Constitution of Ukraine and the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code and realized that we are lawyers first, before anything else. The right of every person to defence, including under international law, must be placed above emotions.
We reminded ourselves that every human being has the right to protection. This principle must prevail, even in wartime. Since then, more than two years have passed.
Some lawyers from the Kharkiv Bar Council who work within the free legal aid system have taken on defence in cases involving suspects connected with Russian military actions. These lawyers face an internal conflict—between their emotions and their professional duty—but they continue to fulfill their obligations as lawyers.
Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Viktoriya and Ivan.
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