Ukrainian refugee Mykola Kubrak blocked from extradition over human-rights concerns

Mykola Kubrak, a 31-year-old Ukrainian who fled to Britain after Russia’s 2022 invasion, entered the country legally under the Home for Ukraine programme. Ukrainian prosecutors allege he was involved in an organised crime gang, storing rocket launchers and anti-tank grenades, and accuse him of car theft, extortion and an attempted abduction in Ivano-Frankivsk. Kubrak’s legal team contended that he left Ukraine before learning of the charges and that his deportation would infringe his right to family life, as his girlfriend, a dental assistant in west London, relies on him.

Westminster Magistrates Court judge Paul Golding ruled the extradition would cause severe and catastrophic harm to his private life, making it an exceptional case. Kubrak remains on bail with a nightly curfew, while the Crown Prosecution Service intends to challenge the ruling.