Who killed Portnov?

Upcoming kompromat tsunamis. Elections, Trump, and a new 'pro-Russian' party. Poroshenko. Tatarov vs Yermak. 'A Rasputin with Zelensky under his spell'.

Last week, we learned about Andrei Portnov’s long life in Ukrainian politics. Now, we will try to find out why his illustrious life at the center of the country’s deep politics came to an abrupt end on May 21, 2025.

To pique the reader’s interest - and in the interests of clarity before we dive into the swamp of competing theories - I will begin by presenting who I believe are the most likely culprits behind the great lawyer’s murder:

Possible/secondary: ex-president Petro Poroshenko and allied pro-western liberal nationalists

Likely/primary: Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential administration, either #1 or #2 most powerful man in the country. Yermak has an ongoing conflict with Oleg Tatarov, who is either the second or third most powerful man in the country, and also a long-time ally of Portnov.

First, a brief review of Portnov. Here’s how a ‘former leader of the law enforcement bloc that was long close with Portnov’ summarized him recently:

Without exaggeration, he was a chess player of the highest caliber, the godfather of the judicial system. No other player could have built such a system and managed it so masterfully. It took him years to achieve this, and under Zelenskyy's rule, this system reached a silent perfection.

It would be an exaggeration to say that he controlled every court in the country. However, he did have allies among some of the nation’s most important courts - those dealing with high-level political and business crimes. He possessed such power because of his role as the main government lawyer in the Tymoshenko (2005-2010) and Yanukovych (2010-2014) governments. His reforms transformed the country’s courts in the Yanukovych government, and many publications claim that the majority of the country’s judges owe their positions to Portnov.

He returned to the country in 2019, a day before Zelensky took office.

According to Ukrainska Pravda, one of the many pro-western liberal nationalist publications Portnov constantly successfully sued for defamation, the intelligent lawyer’s power grew even greater under Zelensky:

To this day, according to several UP sources, Portnov maintained influence over the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, headed by Ruslan Kozlov.

Contrary to legal norms, which allow only two terms in this position (one term lasts three years—UP), Kozlov has remained the court’s chairman for a fourth consecutive term. This court handles key cases involving the National Police and the State Bureau of Investigations (SBI).

Another crucial court in Portnov’s system was the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv. Since 2020, it has been led by Yevhen Martynov. This is where cases from the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) and the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) land—meaning proceedings related to treason, corruption, and financial fraud. In legal circles, this court has repeatedly been mentioned in discussions about selective justice.

The third key court in the legal hierarchy for decisions important to the authorities was the Kyiv Court of Appeal. Its deputy chairman, Volodymyr Melnyk, heads the criminal chamber. According to sources, he was a longtime and trusted contact of Portnov—his man since the early 2010s.

This court filters appeals in sensitive criminal cases, including those involving top officials or law enforcement officers. Until recently, this ensured not only political control but also a safeguard against "undesirable" rulings at higher levels.

Portnov’s restoration of control over judicial bodies after his return to Ukraine in 2019 was made possible not only by old connections but also due to political inertia.

Under the new government, none of the systemic leverage points were dismantled—instead, many of them gained new resources and immunity.

"He didn’t have this kind of power under Yanukovych like he does now," summarizes one of the big business representatives with whom the lawyer also frequently interacted. The work of financial-industrial groups is an endless series of lawsuits. And where there are no rules, more often than not, Portnov was involved.

Hence, the story of who killed Portnov is clearly not so simple as simply a battle of the state against a dissident.

While it is true that Portnov was harshly opposed to Ukrainian ethnonationalists, he was also a key ally of the core Zelensky elite. To many, he was a key element of the Zelensky elite.

In fact, it isn’t totally controversial to claim that Portnov was one of the five most powerful men in the country right up until his death. A proponent of this theory is Aleksandr Dubinsky, a former ally of Portnov, who gave him the number four power ranking after Zelensky, Andrey Yermak, and Oleg Tatarov. My article on Portnov’s life went into his long association with Tatarov, who is currently in charge of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies. Dubinsky also blames Portnov and the courts he supposedly controls for keeping Dubinsky imprisoned since 2023.

Tatarov and Yermak

Accordingly, I don’t think he was simply killed by the government as an opposition figure. He wasn’t in the opposition.

This is admitted by those who are in a serious conflict with the Zelensky government. Take, for instance, Konstantin Bondarenko, a political analyst of social democratic views who was sanctioned by Zelensky last month. Bondarenko describes himself as an old friend of Portnov, and the two would certainly both be classified as ‘pro-Russian’ by much of the Ukrainian political establishment.

However, after Portnov’s death, Bondarenko made it clear that he and the lawyer had been at loggerheads for years. The reason for the disagreement was Portnov’s support for the government, support that intensified after the start of full-scale war with Russia in 2022.

Portnov’s assassination is hence no clearcut matter. Nevertheless, nor do I believe he was merely killed as a result of some obscure business dispute. This narrative is currently being pushed by much government media and plenty of Portnov’s greatest liberal-nationalist enemies.

There are much bigger stakes to Portnov’s death. Even the media publications trying to muddy the waters with various obscure hypotheses are reporting on the dramatic political dealings Portnov was involved with in the days before his death.

With the passing of time, it seems that the dead Portnov is raising yet more burning political questions. Zelensky’s hope to maintain power in a post-war election. The possibility of creating a new ‘pro-Russian’ political party. The battle between pro-western nationalists and those advocating for a non-aligned Ukraine. A mysterious power struggle between the two most powerful men in the country. The looming shadow of the White House. And perhaps most importantly, the fate of Portnov’s phone.

The theories