First contact
The attorney establishes the client’s status and the case materials and agrees the line of conduct before any testimony.
PRACTICE / 08
Criminal defence
The defence everyone has a right to: the attorney enters the case under an agreement and works at every stage — from the pre-investigation check to review of the conviction.
- Handled by
- Attorneys of the bar
- Stages
- From check to cassation
- Urgent line
- +7 499 460-64-27
Everything you tell your attorney is protected by attorney–client privilege (art. 8 of Federal Law No. 63-FZ). That is not a figure of speech but a legal regime: an attorney cannot be questioned about the content of your conversations.
What we do
- Defend suspects and accused persons during investigation and at trial.
- Work in the personal-attorney format: standing support for the client and family.
- Attend interrogations, confrontations and other investigative actions.
- Challenge custody measures and the investigation’s actions and inaction.
- Act for victims of crime.
- Seek review of convictions on appeal and in cassation.
Typical situations
- A loved one has been detained and the first hours are chaos.
- You are summoned for questioning — as a witness, “for now”.
- A judgment is in, and the family must decide whether to appeal.
- You are the victim, and the case is going nowhere.
HOW THE WORK IS BUILT
How the work is built
Entering the case
Agreement, warrant, meetings with the client, access to the file.
The defence
Motions, presence at investigative actions, work with evidence and experts.
Trial and appeals
Position at trial; appeal, cassation, new circumstances.
WHO HANDLES IT
Attorneys in this practice
Attorney since 2009, chairman of the bar association since 2019. Criminal and commercial litigation, personal and corporate insolvency.
More about their experience
- Education
- Graduated from the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI) with a degree in Law. Completed professional retraining at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics under the unified insolvency-practitioner programme (crisis management). Postgraduate student at the Moscow Innovation University.
- Practice
- A practising attorney since 2009, specialising in criminal and commercial law and in personal and corporate insolvency cases.
- At the bar association
- Chairman of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association since 2019.
In the profession since 2011, called to the bar in 2019. Civil, commercial and corporate disputes, criminal defence, real estate, business support, insolvency.
More about their experience
- Education
- Graduated in 2011 from the Odessa National Law Academy (law degree). In 2017 completed a master’s programme at the Crimean Law Institute, a branch of the Academy of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation.
- Practice
- Working in the profession since 2011, including more than ten years in courts of general jurisdiction and commercial (arbitrazh) courts of first instance and appeal, among other roles as a judge’s assistant. Called to the bar in 2019.
- Focus
- Representing individuals in civil matters; extensive experience of commercial and corporate disputes, real-estate transactions, ongoing legal support of businesses and insolvency cases.
Attorney since 2014; before that, more than twenty years in military prosecution offices. Retired colonel of justice.
More about their experience
- Education
- Graduated in 1992 from the law faculty of the Military Institute with a degree in law.
- Practice
- From 1992 to 2013 served in prosecutorial and investigative positions in military prosecution offices; colonel of justice. An attorney since 2014.
For fourteen years a judge of the Primorsky District Court of Mariupol, and before that a prosecution investigator. Called to the bar in 2026; handles cases at the association’s Mariupol office.
More about their experience
- Education
- 1999 — Yaroslav Mudryi National Law Academy, degree in law.
- Practice
- In the law since 1996, starting on the staff of the Primorsky District Court of Mariupol. From 1999 to 2003 she served in the Mariupol prosecution service: assistant to the environmental inter-district prosecutor, then senior investigator of the environmental and district prosecutor’s offices. Later — claims and legal work at the Azov Shipping Company “Torgovy Flot Donbassa”. From 2004 to 2018 — judge of the Primorsky District Court of Mariupol. From 2019 — in the bar: the Balashov & Partners law bureau, and from 2021 head of the Constant Legal Protection advocacy association. Called to the Russian bar in 2026; practises at the Mariupol office of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association.
- Focus
- Criminal defence — drawing on her investigative service and fourteen years on the bench. Civil and family disputes; representation in courts of general jurisdiction.
- Approach
- Experience on both sides of the courtroom — fourteen years of deciding cases and investigative work at the prosecution service — helps her assess a case’s prospects soberly before it ever reaches court.
Evgenia Mitrofanova
Attorney
Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners
Bar association office in Mariupol
In the profession since 2002: an attorney from 2006 and, for eight years, a judge of the Primorsky District Court of Mariupol. A lawyer and psychologist by training; handles cases at the association’s Mariupol office.
More about their experience
- Education
- 2000–2005 — Academy of Labour and Social Relations, degree in law (courts, prosecution and the bar). 2008 — Yaroslav Mudryi National Law Academy, faculty for the training of professional judges, Master of Laws. 2017 — a further degree in psychology.
- Practice
- In the profession since 2002: court session secretary, attorney’s assistant, and from 2006 an attorney of the Azov Advocacy Company — deputy chair and then chair of its presidium in 2008–2010. From 2010 to 2018 — judge of the Primorsky District Court of Mariupol, appointed for an indefinite term, general docket. Thereafter — advocacy and in-house practice, including anti-corruption work. An attorney at the Mariupol office of the Kovalev, Malyutov, Tsypkalo & Partners Moscow Bar Association.
- Focus
- Criminal defence, including corruption offences — backed by eight years on the bench and specialist training in corruption investigations. Civil, family and inheritance disputes; representation in courts of general jurisdiction.
- Further training
- National School of Judges seminars (2015–2016), including on personal-data protection law; a special course of the International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest on investigating corruption offences and combating human trafficking (2016).
- Approach
- The combination of judicial experience and a psychology degree helps in cases where negotiation matters as much as the law: family, inheritance and neighbour disputes.
QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
When should I call an attorney?
Before the first testimony. What has been said is hard to unsay: the first explanations shape the case. The right to counsel arises from the moment of actual detention.
How does an attorney (advokat) differ from a lawyer?
An attorney is a lawyer who has passed the bar examination and holds a status that brings special rights and duties: the warrant, attorney–client privilege, formal enquiries — and only an attorney may act as defence counsel in a criminal case.
A loved one has been detained. What do we do?
A detainee has the right to a phone call to notify family, and relatives must be informed of the detention. Do not lose time: record who detained them and when, and engage counsel by agreement at once — counsel will obtain a meeting and the file.
Can I refuse to testify?
Article 51 of the Constitution lets you refuse to testify against yourself and your close relatives — at any stage and in any status. How to use that right without harming your position, counsel will explain before the interrogation.
Do you guarantee an acquittal?
No, and no one may. We assess the prospects and say plainly what is worth fighting for: the classification, the custody measure, the sentence, the civil claim.
NEXT STEP
Let’s discuss your situation
The consultation is free when an agreement is signed: that is where we say whether the case has prospects and how the work would be built.