Lehtme faces charges of abuse of trust and embezzlement of large-scale donations in connection with the NGO Slava Ukraini. The Office of the Prosecutor General launched a criminal investigation involving Lehtme in May 2023.

Over two years, the Central Criminal Police, in cooperation with Ukrainian authorities, compiled an extensive case file that led Estonian prosecutors to file an indictment against Lehtme with Harju District Court last August.

Prosecutors allege that transactions involving companies linked to Lehtme's Ukrainian associate, Hennadi Vaskiv, brought the organization more than €450,000 in losses.

Embezzlement carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison in Estonia, with fraud carrying a maximum of four years.

Lehtme still in Ukraine

The court granted an exception allowing Lehtme to appear on trial remotely. Her attorney, Dmitri Teplõhh, said she has lived in Ukraine since 2023, where "all of her vital personal, family and social ties" are.

Teplõhh also cited his client caring for her two children, one of whom is school-aged and the other under one year old, as a key consideration in requesting the exception.

Lehtme previously appeared via video link during a preliminary hearing in the case that took place in Harju District Court last October.

At the preliminary hearing, former Slava Ukraini CEO and liquidator Anu Viltrop told the court the NGO "has zero euros" in its account.

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