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The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.

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Notorious Ukrainian judge temporarily suspended from justice administration

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Notorious Ukrainian judge temporarily suspended from justice administration
Pavlo Vovk, Judge of the liquidated Kyiv District Administrative Court (OASK). (Pavlo Vovk/Facebook)

Former judge of the Kyiv District Administrative Court (OASK) Pavlo Vovk was temporarily suspended from the administration of justice on Nov. 13 after the decision of the High Council of Justice.

The High Qualification Commission of Judges of Ukraine recognized Vovk as having failed to prove his ability to administer justice in the Administrative Court of Cassation within the Supreme Court earlier this year.

Vovk's suspension will remain in effect until the High Council of Justice dismisses the judge or the Third Disciplinary Chamber of the body that suspended the judge reverses its decision, the statement read.

The Third Disciplinary Chamber unanimously decided on Vovk's future dismissal, according to the Dejure Foundation.

Vovk has become a symbol of injustice, lawlessness, and impunity in Ukraine. Cases against him have been blocked and sabotaged by prosecutors, investigators, and courts for several years.

Vovk and other judges of his court have been charged with usurpation of power, obstruction of justice, organized crime, and abuse of authority.

In December 2022, the parliament voted on liquidating the Kyiv District Administrative Court, whose chairman, Vovk, had previously been subject to U.S. personal sanctions. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the document, making it effective.

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