CASE OF SHAYKIN AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE

 

 

FIFTH SECTION

CASE OF SHAYKIN AND OTHERS v. UKRAINE

(Applications nos. 1820/25 and 5 others –

see appended list)

 

 

 

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

STRASBOURG

13 May 2026

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of Shaykin and Others v. Ukraine,

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:

 Andreas Zünd, President,
 Diana Sârcu,
 Mykola Gnatovskyy, judges,

and Viktoriya Maradudina, Acting Deputy Section Registrar,

Having deliberated in private on 9 April 2026,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

PROCEDURE

1.  The case originated in applications against Ukraine lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on the various dates indicated in the appended table.

2.  The applicants were represented by A. V. Yolkin, a lawyer practising in Kryvyy Rig.

3.  The Ukrainian Government (“the Government”) were given notice of the applications.

THE FACTS

4.  The list of applicants and the relevant details of the applications are set out in the appended table.

5.  The applicants complained of the inadequate conditions of their detention and of the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law. In some applications, they also raised other complaints under the provisions of the Convention.

THE LAW        JOINDER OF THE APPLICATIONS

6.  Having regard to the similar subject matter of the applications, the Court finds it appropriate to examine them jointly in a single judgment.

      ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 3 AND 13 OF THE CONVENTION

7.  The applicants complained principally of the inadequate conditions of their detention and that they had no effective remedy in this connection. They relied on Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.

8.  The Government submitted that some applicants had failed to exhaust domestic remedies, as they had not sought compensation before the civil courts for damage allegedly sustained as a result of inadequate conditions of detention. However, the Court has found that a compensatory remedy is effective only once the unsatisfactory conditions of detention have ended (see Sukachov v. Ukraine, no. 14057/17, § 113, 30 January 2020). In the present case, the Government did not indicate that the applicants had been transferred, released, or that the conditions of their detention had improved before they lodged their applications with the Court. The objection must therefore be rejected.

9.  The Court further notes that the applicants were kept in detention in poor conditions. The details of the applicants’ detention are indicated in the appended table. The Court refers to the principles established in its case‑law regarding inadequate conditions of detention (see, for instance, Muršić v. Croatia [GC], no. 7334/13, §§ 96‑101, ECHR 2016). It reiterates in particular that a serious lack of space in a prison cell weighs heavily as a factor to be taken into account for the purpose of establishing whether the detention conditions described are “degrading” from the point of view of Article 3 and may disclose a violation, both alone or taken together with other shortcomings (see Muršić, cited above, §§ 122-41, and Ananyev and Others v. Russia, nos. 42525/07 and 60800/08, §§ 149‑59, 10 January 2012).

10.  In the leading cases of Melnik v. Ukraine (no. 72286/01, 28 March 2006) and Sukachov (cited above), the Court already found a violation in respect of issues similar to those in the present case.

11.  The Court also refers to its standard of proof and methods for assessment of evidence in conditions-of-detention cases (see Muršić, cited above, §§ 127-28). In particular, in reply to a prima facie case of ill-treatment, complained of by the applicants, the Government is expected to provide primary evidence showing cell floor plans and the actual number of inmates during the specific periods of the applicants’ detention (see Ananyev and Others, cited above, § 123, and, for example, Sparysh and Kutsmand v. Ukraine [Committee], nos. 49709/18 and 49870/18, 12 September 2024). Other documents and photographs, related to air, food, water quality control, pest control, temperature and luminosity measurements, bathing facilities, privacy of toilet, laundry services, etc., should pertain to cells and periods of the applicants’ detention.

12.  Having examined all the material submitted to it, the Court has not found any fact or argument capable of persuading it to reach a different conclusion on the admissibility and merits of these complaints. Having regard to its case-law on the subject, the Court considers that in the instant case the applicants’ conditions of detention during the periods indicated in the appended table were inadequate.

13.  The Court further notes that the applicants did not have at their disposal an effective remedy in respect of these complaints.

14.  These complaints are therefore admissible and disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention.

    OTHER ALLEGED VIOLATIONS UNDER WELL-ESTABLISHED CASE-LAW

15.  In applications nos. 14270/25 and 14418/25, the applicants submitted other complaints which also raised issues under the Convention, given the relevant well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table). These complaints are not manifestly ill-founded within the meaning of Article 35 § 3 (a) of the Convention, nor are they inadmissible on any other ground. Accordingly, they must be declared admissible. Having examined all the material before it, the Court concludes that they also disclose violations of the Convention in the light of its findings in the cases set out in the appended table.

   REMAINING COMPLAINTS

16.  In applications nos. 1820/25 and 14270/25, the applicants also raised other complaints under various Articles of the Convention.

17.  The Court has examined the applications and considers that, in the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of are within its competence, these complaints either do not meet the admissibility criteria set out in Articles 34 and 35 of the Convention or do not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Convention or the Protocols thereto.

It follows that this part of applications nos. 1820/25 and 14270/25 must be rejected in accordance with Article 35 § 4 of the Convention.

     APPLICATION OF ARTICLE 41 OF THE CONVENTION

18.  Regard being had to the documents in its possession and to its case‑law (see, in particular, Sukachov, cited above, §§ 165 and 167), the Court considers it reasonable to award the sums indicated in the appended table.

FOR THESE REASONS, THE COURT, UNANIMOUSLY,     Decides to join the applications;     Declares the complaints concerning the inadequate conditions of detention, the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law and the other complaints under the well-established case-law of the Court, as set out in the appended table, admissible, and the remainder of applications nos. 1820/25 and 14270/25 inadmissible;     Holds that these complaints disclose a breach of Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention concerning the inadequate conditions of detention and the lack of any effective remedy in domestic law;     Holds that there has been a violation of the Convention as regards the other complaints raised under the well-established case-law of the Court (see appended table);     Holds  that the respondent State is to pay the applicants, within three months, the amounts indicated in the appended table, to be converted into the currency of the respondent State at the rate applicable at the date of settlement;  that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points.

Done in English, and notified in writing on 13 May 2026, pursuant to Rule 77 §§ 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court.

 

 Viktoriya Maradudina Andreas Zünd

 Acting Deputy Registrar President

 

APPENDIX

List of applications raising complaints under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention

(inadequate conditions of detention and lack of any effective remedy in domestic law)

No.

Application no.

Date of introduction

Applicant’s name

Year of birth

 

Facility

Start and end date

Duration

Sq. m per inmate

Specific grievances

Other complaints under well-established case-law

Amount awarded for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage per applicant

(in euros)[1]

Amount awarded for costs and expenses per application

(in euros)[2]

   

1820/25

27/12/2024

Anton Vadymovych SHAYKIN

1986

 

Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility

27/04/2023 to

02/03/2025

1 year(s) and 10 month(s) and 4 day(s)

2.5-2.6 m²

Overcrowding, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, no or restricted access to shower, lack of or insufficient natural light, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, no or restricted access to warm water, passive smoking, insufficient number of sleeping places, lack of privacy for toilet

 

4,700

-

   

11670/25

04/04/2025

Olena Oleksiyivna POROKHNYA

1995

 

Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility

12/04/2024

pending

More than 1 year(s) and 11 month(s) and 13 day(s)

2.6 m²

Overcrowding, lack of toiletries, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of privacy for toilet, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to potable water, lack of fresh air

 

4,900

 

   

13922/25

26/04/2025

Karyna Sergiyivna KRASOVSKA

1992

 

Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention facility

30/09/2024

pending

More than 1 year(s) and 5 month(s) and 25 day(s)

2.5-3.3 m²

Overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient electric light, lack of or inadequate hygienic facilities, lack of toiletries, no or restricted access to warm water, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air, lack of privacy for toilet, no or restricted access to toilet, no or restricted access to shower

 

4,000

-

   

14252/25

29/04/2025

Tengiz Shakroyevych TSURTSUMIYA

1970

 

Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility

02/06/2023 to

17/07/2025

2 year(s) and 1 month(s) and 16 day(s)

2.5-2.7 m²

Overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air

 

5,200

-

   

14270/25

29/04/2025

Sergiy Pylypovych LAGUTA

1969

 

Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility

02/01/2024 to

17/07/2025

1 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 16 day(s)

2.5 - 3.6 m²

Overcrowding, mouldy or dirty cell, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, inadequate temperature, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air

Art. 5 (4) - lack of speediness of review of detention – detention orders issued by the Kyiv-Sviatoshyn Local Court of Kyiv on 27/03/2024, 06/11/2024, 09/12/2024, 05/02/2025 were appealed against on 09/04/2024, 06/11/2024, 10/12/2024, 11/02/2025 and the Kyiv Court of Appeal examined them on 01/04/2025, 27/01/2025, 20/02/2025, 18/03/2025 respectively (Kharchenko v. Ukraine, no. 40107/02, §§ 86-87, 10 February 2011)

5,400

250

   

14418/25

29/04/2025

Alla Sergiyivna LIPOVTSEVA

1982

 

Kyiv Pre-Trial Detention Facility

11/09/2023

pending

More than 2 year(s) and 6 month(s) and 14 day(s)

2.5 - 2.6 m²

Overcrowding, lack of fresh air, passive smoking, lack of or insufficient natural light, no or restricted access to warm water, no or restricted access to shower, lack of toiletries, lack of or poor quality of bedding and bed linen, lack of or insufficient physical exercise in fresh air

Art. 6 (1) - excessive length of criminal proceedings - 15/06/2018 - pending,

2 levels of jurisdiction (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021)

 

Art. 13 - lack of any effective remedy in domestic law in respect of excessive length of criminal proceedings (see Nechay v. Ukraine, no. 15360/10, §§ 67-79, 1 July 2021)

7,700

-

 

 

[1] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.

[2] Plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants.

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