The Prymorskyi District Court of Odessa has found Vitaliy Melnyk, a Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service and Head of the Emergency Surgery Department at the Military Medical Clinical Center of the Southern Region, guilty of abuse of influence. The official accepted a bribe from a serviceman to help obtain medical documents for a transfer to a non-combat rear unit. Under a plea bargain approved by the court, the medical chief will pay a fine of 88.4 thousand hryvnias.
According to the investigation, between June and October 2025, Vitaliy Melnyk used his official position to demand and receive an illegal benefit of $2,000 from an active-duty serviceman.
In exchange for the money, the head of the surgery department promised to influence a colleague—an orthopedic traumatologist at the same medical center. The goal was to secure medical documentation certifying the soldier as fit for service exclusively in rear units (such as logistics, territorial recruitment centers [TCC], military universities, or medical detachments) rather than frontline combat roles. The cash handover took place on October 6, 2025, in a utility room inside the hospital.
The court classified the Lieutenant Colonel’s actions under Part 2 of Article 369-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of influence). Despite the severity of the offense under martial law, the defendant avoided prison time. In addition to the fine, the court ordered the special confiscation of a portion of the bribe amounting to $300. Meanwhile, the bail of 605 thousand hryvnias previously posted for the accused was returned to the depositors, and the seizures on his property were lifted.
When approving the plea agreement with the prosecutor, the court took into account several mitigating circumstances:
Sincere repentance and full admission of guilt.
Combat veteran status (UBD) and state awards.
Dependent custody of two minor children, one of whom has a disability.
A positive performance review from his place of military service.
Key Context: During the proceedings, the court noted that the defendant had performed 103 complex surgeries on wounded Ukrainian soldiers throughout 2025. Furthermore, the Lieutenant Colonel voluntarily transferred 100 thousand hryvnias to support the defense of Ukraine (to the account of military unit 3073).