One nude photo on a phone — almost UAH 19,000 fine

Uman City District Court of Cherkasy Oblast found guilty a cash-in-transit driver of the branch of the Cherkasy Regional Office of JSC “Oschad Bank” in a case of possession of a single graphic image of a pornographic nature. The verdict was handed down on 12 May 2026 in case No. 705/2975/26.

This concerns criminal proceeding No. 12026250320000401, which was considered under Part 1 of Article 301 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — possession of pornographic images with the intent to distribute.

According to the verdict, the accused ОСОБА_4 is a native of the city of Uman, Cherkasy Oblast, a citizen of Ukraine, has secondary education, is married, has no prior convictions, works as a cash-in-transit driver at the branch of the Cherkasy Regional Office of JSC “Oschad Bank” and has a minor child dependent on him.

Court materials state that at an unspecified time before 19 December 2025, while at his place of residence, the man used his own mobile phone Redmi Note 10 Pro to create one graphic image, which an expert examination later classified as pornographic material. The verdict notes that the investigation considered the man to have stored it with the “purpose of distribution”.

A search of the man’s home was conducted on 15 April 2026 from 06:55 to 07:57. It was during this search that law enforcement officers found one graphic image on the phone. Afterwards, on 24 April 2026, a forensic art expert examination No. СЕ-19/124-26/4900-МЗ was carried out, which classified the file as pornographic material.

The verdict itself does not explain what the morning search of the cash-in-transit driver was related to or why law enforcement officers came to his home at all.

On 29 April 2026, a plea agreement was concluded between prosecutor OSOBA_7 of the Uman District Prosecutor’s Office and the accused ОСОБА_4. The man pleaded guilty to the criminal offense under Part 1 of Article 301 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The parties agreed on a penalty in the form of a fine — 1,000 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens, i.e. UAH 17,000. The court approved this agreement and imposed that exact penalty.

In addition to the fine, the man was ordered to pay the state costs for conducting the forensic art examination — UAH 1,925.44. Thus, in total for one image on the phone the man must pay UAH 18,925.44.

At the same time, the court lifted the seizure on the mobile phone Redmi Note 10 Pro, which had previously been confiscated in the case. The phone was ordered returned to its owner.

The verdict may be appealed to the Cherkasy Court of Appeal through the Uman City District Court of Cherkasy Oblast within 30 days from the date it was announced.

At the same time, the text of the verdict does not make clear on what basis the investigation concluded the “purpose of distribution”. The document contains no data about sending the image, sale, publication, correspondence, or arrangements with other persons. The court only recorded that there was one image on the phone, the expert examination found it pornographic, and the accused agreed to a plea deal with the prosecutor and a fine of UAH 17,000.