From 2015 to 2022, Iurii Gulevatyi was an arbitration specialist lawyer in Kyiv but, when Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine, he was thrust into the war. In conversation with the IBA he recalls the chaos and confusion of that time and how he came to be a Captain of Justice.

In 2022, when Vladimir Putin’s Russia invaded Ukraine, Iurii Gulevatyi was working as an arbitration lawyer at AGA Partners Law Firm in Kyiv. A small, now medium-sized, arbitration boutique, it focused on commodity-based arbitration. Since 2015, he’d handled matters often relating to trade in grain, oil and other products essential to the Ukrainian economy, which would be distributed from various European ports. As these arbitration cases were often heard in the London Maritime Arbitrators Association, he would work with or against well-known London-based law firms like Clyde & Co, Reed Smith and Norton Rose Fulbright.

Suddenly, when Putin’s Russia invaded in 2022, everything changed – for Gulevatyi and for everyone in Ukraine. ‘This situation was heating up and emotions, the feeling that the war was coming was increasing from 2000’, he says. ‘The risk of full-scale invasion was increasing from 2014 when the Russians occupied Crimea, when the Russians started the war in the eastern part, in the Donbass region. Ten years ago, I already thought the biggest threat would be coming in the future. There was still hope that this would not happen, that it would somehow be resolved, maybe Putin would die, I don’t know. In 2021, the feeling that a big war was coming was increased twice or a few times – from autumn 2021, we were really nervous. I was and my law firm was, at the risk of a full-scale invasion.’

When their worst fears were confirmed, everything was thrown into turmoil. ‘Morally, I was preparing myself for such a scenario. I was preparing myself that at some point in time I would go to the army, this is actually what happened in February. It was totally chaotic on 24 February. Even when I try to remember this, I am a little bit nervous because everything was so fast, and Russians were coming to Kyiv. I was trying to relocate my family. My father was living close to the Russian army to the North of Kyiv. And I was seeing all these helicopters, and this was an immediate threat. So, I spent some time to relocate my family and then, in March 2022, I voluntarily went to the army.’

Gulevatyi was thrust straight into the war. ‘Within a few days I was mobilised, having relocated my family to the western part of Ukraine. In the first weeks after the full-scale invasion, many people did the same, because they had relatives or found a hotel. I did the same. Once I’d relocated my father, my mother, my girlfriend (now my wife) – because it wasn’t safe to travel back to Kyiv alone – I went to a mobilisation centre in the west. From there I went to the combat unit with artillery and missile troops. At this point, you have no option, the army decides itself where a particular person should go. So, they transferred me to go with artillery and missile troops even though I hadn’t served in the army before and didn’t know anything about missiles and artillery.’

Of course, for security reasons, Gulevatyi can’t talk about specific locations where his combat unit operated but he can easily recall his feelings at the time: ‘Of course, I was afraid. It was scary. During the first weeks, there was a strange mixture of feelings: of being afraid, and at the same time I had this tragic feeling that we need to do a lot to help ourselves, to help the country, to help the state. So, it was a mixture of feeling that I am in the army – we will fight, we will defend our country, we shall stay strong – [and], at the same time, being afraid because of all the explosions, because I didn’t have an idea about missiles and artillery. So, it was a mixture of all these feelings’.

He served with the missile and artillery unit for ten months and soon became ‘more or less accustomed’ to the role. But he always felt he’d be of more use doing a legal job in the army. ‘The problem was it was such chaos at the time, I didn’t even know how to transfer myself for a legal job within the army. The first time I realised where to go or where this legal service is located was autumn 2022. It was just a coincidence that, in October, I saw a public advertisement that “the legal service searches for arbitration lawyers” to help the armed forces. I fully admit that I’m doing a better job when I’m doing a legal job – I’m just much more helpful than I used to be.’

The legal unit is within the Ministry of Defence (MoD). ‘The head of the unit is a former judge of the Supreme Court and is very experienced and famous in the legal world. He has the title of Lieutenant Colonel, and I am Captain of Justice. I didn’t expect that at some point in my life I’d make a military career, but it’s just happened. It always takes time to transfer because it is very bureaucratic. Everyone understands it is more useful when a person is doing a job during war time within the military where they have some experience in their civil life. This isn’t only my story. This is the case for many people on the legal directorate. They spent time at the beginning of the full-scale invasion in the military: in the infantry and some in artillery. Then they were transferred to the legal service because they had some experience that our armed forces needed.’

Given the enormous number of contracts involved in supporting the war effort a legal unit was essential, but there were no arbitration lawyers. ‘In 2023, the arbitration division was formed, and I became the head of it. We have an intellectual property division, we have a unit devoted to the national court and one devoted to pre-litigation. The legal division was smaller than it is now – it’s pretty big now – and it’s been renamed and expanded since the full-scale invasion. Our main practice is Ukrainian-based arbitration; we have about ten people doing the arbitrations and advising the ministry in these cases, particularly focusing on international contracts with foreign counterparties. When the arbitrations are abroad, we’re not allowed to represent the MoD. We must transfer the case file to the MoJ [Ministry of Justice] because of a specific presidential decree stating that it must be done this way.’

Such divisions of power were in place long before the full-scale invasion. ‘Perhaps it would be wise to give the MoD powers to represent ourselves in cases abroad. But, at the same time, it may not be natural as the MoD is all about defence issues and not about justice. Even in those kinds of cases – which are less than those in Ukrainian courts – we are still helping a lot with the position, factual background [and] gathering evidence. If there was a transfer of this power to the MoD, there would be problems. The MoJ has its process for procurement of foreign lawyers. As we don’t have this procurement power, it would be a very bureaucratic process to set this up. When we win an arbitration award against a foreign party, we transfer enforcement to the MoJ.’

Working in the legal unit within the MoD involved matters that were essential for the war effort. ‘The disputes involved contracts with foreign companies for the supply of non-lethal and lethal goods. Non-lethal goods would include helmets, military clothing and body armour – anything the army needs. When I moved to the legal service, [there were] problematic contracts, the companies we were dealing with were supplying all the things I’d been using when I was in the combat unit. A lot of the complex disputes involved quality disputes, for example body armour that was not bullet-proof to the required level. The MoD did not accept these kinds of goods, so we needed to reclaim the pre-payment, and these were the most complex, because anything related to quality required expertise and a lot of evidence from different parties and stake holders, all gathered within a short space of time.’

The volume of each of these items were enormous. ‘Dozens of millions of Euros or [US] dollars were involved, and dozens of thousands of items of body armour, helmets, etc’, Gulevatyi says. ‘The awards would, therefore, be in the region of €10m and €20m, involving suppliers worldwide, from Europe and Asia. And because everything was so chaotic in 2022 the contracts were done in such a rush.’

Lethal supplies have resulted in fewer cases. ‘Because usually these involve world-renowned companies that valued their reputations. Some of the non-lethal suppliers were just using the situation to make large amounts of money and were not very scrupulous. Lethal suppliers are much more serious, though I can’t name names, as anything to do with lethal supplies is top, top secret, but they were supplying ammunition, weapons, vehicles, drones. The disputes might involve difficulty with the timeframe for delivery or the volume of supply. We did get into a very complex dispute because of non-supply involving numerous companies.’

One of the limiting factors is budget. ‘We have to pay for local lawyers, court fees, etc. But, at the same time, we’re at war with Russia and need money to pay soldiers their salary or to pay the families of soldiers who were killed. For this reason, we’re trying to find pro bono support. There are a few companies who try to avoid enforcement of the awards. They might go into liquidation or challenge the awards in Ukrainian courts, and this is another part of our job: representing the MoD in Ukrainian courts. Thanks to Mark Ellis and the IBA we have several law firms, in Poland, France and elsewhere, that are ready to help us on a pro bono basis. We got jobs done this way, with a firm helping us with enforcement. Another firm helped us with legal advice on future recognition and enforcement, and proper notification abroad. So, we’re getting this kind of pro bono support. But, when there is an issue in a local court, the ultimate decision on how to proceed rests with the MoJ.’

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gulevatyi feels the last two years have been so extremely rich with experience, it could easily be the subject of a book. But the nature of his work and position wouldn’t allow him to write it. For now, he says he gets through the psychologically challenging circumstances the same way he did when he was in the combat unit: by focusing each day not so much on hope, but on achieving his daily tasks.

Iurii Gulevatyi was speaking to the IBA’s Director of Content, James Lewis.