The court postponed the hearing in the case involving the wiretapping of activists of the Revolution of Dignity
The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv postponed the next hearing in the case involving the illegal wiretapping of activists and leaders of the Revolution of Dignity. The next hearing is scheduled for November 19, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. This was announced by the court’s spokesperson, Judge Maria Pylaeva.
The Pechersk District Court of Kyiv has postponed the hearing in the case involving the illegal wiretapping of activists and leaders of the Revolution of Dignity. The next hearing is scheduled for November 19, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. This was announced by Maria Pylaeva, the court spokesperson for the Pechersk District Court. “This case is being heard by Presiding Judge Bilotserkivets. Today’s hearing has been postponed; the next hearing is scheduled for November 19, 2026, at 3:00 p.m.,” she said.
Thus, the proceedings will resume in November. The court spokesperson did not specify in her statement the reason why this particular hearing did not take place.
What is this case about?
This is a criminal case that became public back in 2015. At that time, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that it had uncovered a group of individuals who were illegally wiretapping opposition politicians and Maidan activists.
In July 2015, the SBU reported the seizure of a specialized system of equipment designed to intercept information from mobile communication channels. According to the security service, it could have been used to illegally eavesdrop on the phone conversations of activists and opposition leaders during the Revolution of Dignity. The equipment was sent for forensic analysis to determine exactly which conversations could have been intercepted and during what period.
At the same time, the SBU opened a criminal case under Article 359 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—the illegal acquisition, sale, or use of special technical means for obtaining information.
What is known about the equipment
According to a 2015 report by the SBU, the equipment consisted of a specialized system capable of intercepting data from mobile communication channels. One such system was seized in Kyiv during a special operation. The SBU stated at the time that the equipment could have been manufactured at a facility linked to Russian intelligence services. These claims were based on the investigation’s working theory at the time of the seizure, and the equipment itself was to be further examined by experts.
The issue of illegal surveillance of Maidan participants arose even during the protests themselves. In January 2014, opposition representatives reported that activists were being monitored and that their phone calls might be intercepted.
Subsequently, investigators confirmed that certain activists had been wiretapped. In particular, the case files on the abduction of Ihor Lutsenko and Yuriy Verbytskyi contain details about the surveillance of Lutsenko and the wiretapping of his phone in January 2014.
Why This Case Is Important
Illegal wiretapping was one of the methods used to monitor participants in the Revolution of Dignity. Information obtained in this way could have included details about the activists’ movements, their contacts, and their plans. The Maidan case files also repeatedly raised the question of how law enforcement agencies gathered information about protest participants and whether they had legal grounds to do so.
At the same time, the specific circumstances, the role of individual defendants, and the liability of each person must be established specifically within the framework of criminal proceedings and confirmed by a court.
The trial is ongoing
Currently, the Pechersky District Court is continuing to hear the case. A new hearing is scheduled for November 19, 2026. The case involving the illegal wiretapping of Maidan activists is part of a broader set of proceedings related to the events of the Revolution of Dignity. Court rulings have already been issued in other cases. For example, in June 2026, the Bila Tserkva City and District Court of Kyiv Oblast handed down a verdict in the Maidan case and sentenced the defendant to 12 years in prison for torturing and unlawfully detaining activists.
At the same time, court proceedings in the case involving illegal wiretapping are still ongoing. The court must reach a final determination regarding the guilt of specific individuals. This was reported by Maria Pylaeva, the court’s spokesperson.
