The Nicosia Criminal Court has sentenced 41-year-old Ukrainian national Denys Pohodin to two and a half years in prison in a case concerning the exploitation of Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied areas. The defendant pleaded guilty and was convicted on 18 charges relating to fraudulent dealings in immovable property belonging to another person.
According to the particulars of the charges, between 2022 and March 20, 2025, Pohodin advertised and promoted the sale of various plots of land on which residential complexes were either under construction or had already been built, while knowing, or under the circumstances reasonably being expected to know, that he did not have the consent of the registered owners.
The plots named in the charges are located in areas not controlled by the Republic of Cyprus, specifically in the villages of Agios Sergios, Gastria, Trikomo and Akanthou in Famagusta district, as well as Kalograia and Agios Amvrosios in Kyrenia district.
Pohodin is from Ukraine and has been living in Cyprus, specifically in Limassol, since 2022. He holds a residence permit in the Republic of Cyprus, valid until September 1, 2026. He was active in the occupied areas in the field of online real estate advertising.
Through his personal accounts on Facebook and Instagram, as well as his YouTube channel, between 2022 and March 20, 2025, he promoted and advertised residential complexes, or complexes under construction, which had been built or were being built on properties belonging to displaced Greek Cypriots.
In addition to these advertisements, Pohodin presented himself on YouTube as a co-founder of the so-called company GP Real Estate, based in occupied Kyrenia, which operates as a real estate agency. The company promoted the same properties advertised by Pohodin through his personal accounts. He also used his social media accounts and YouTube channel to promote the website gpcyprus.com, which belongs to the same so-called company and advertised the disputed properties for sale.
According to the circumstances of the offences, around December 2022, Pohodin was approached by the Turkish Cypriot owner of the so-called company GP Real Estate, who offered him work to advertise the company and the complexes built, or due to be built, on the properties in question. Around March 2023, Pohodin first posted advertisements for the company and the developments it was promoting on his personal online accounts.
A sentence intended to send a message
In its decision, the Criminal Court stressed that offences of this nature are punished strictly, with sentences that carry a strong deterrent element, mainly for the purpose of general prevention and, secondarily, specific prevention.
The court said that, within the limits of their role and in line with well-established sentencing principles, courts must contribute decisively through appropriately deterrent penalties to ending the rampant exploitation of immovable property belonging to registered owners in the occupied territories of the Republic, without their consent.
It added that such sentences are necessary in order to send the right messages in all directions, particularly for the suppression of such criminal conduct.
The court ultimately imposed a prison sentence of two and a half years, with the sentences to run concurrently. It also ruled that the period Pohodin has spent in custody since March 2025 will be counted as part of the total sentence imposed.
