The Politico server alerted to the words of several Ukrainian investigative journalists who claim that they have never had an easy time in Ukraine when reporting on corruption cases, but that it has been especially difficult lately. At a time when Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in office as a military president, investigative journalists are said to be under a lot of pressure.
“Before the war, I conducted investigations for 15 years and it was always difficult and risky. But I think it’s worse for journalists now,” said Ukrainian reporter Yuriy Nikolov, editor and co-founder of the anti-corruption investigative project Naši Groši (Our Money).
“They use various scare tactics to try and discourage reporters, and then of course they can always threaten to take you to the front lines,” he added with a rueful laugh. For a man facing death threats, he remains remarkably upbeat.
Last year, Nikolov is said to have been monitoring possible corruption in the army and the high prices of supplies for soldiers. After his investigation, the then Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov finally resigned. According to Nikolov, the intimidation pressure on Ukrainian investigative journalists is only increasing – despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement in January that “any pressure on journalists is unacceptable”. And while the level of corruption in the country may be on the decline, it is far from over.
Since his stories came out, Nikolov has reportedly been the target of harassment and has been denounced on social media by anonymous government supporters as a disloyal citizen. In January, the intimidation allegedly went even further. “Two guys in camouflage came and knocked on my apartment door,” he said. They scared his sick mother, who was there alone at the time, and plastered the door with stickers accusing him of being a traitor.
Nikolov insists that there is no traitor. He sees himself as a Ukrainian patriot. A patriot who can also be a journalist and write about corruption in his country. Even at the time of the invasion of the homeland.
“Journalists should also understand that they have a job. It is not bad for Ukraine to be transparent and have proper journalism. I want us to have more air defenses and more weapons for our soldiers – that’s where money should be spent, not put in people’s pockets.”
At the same time, Bihus.Info also faced pressure, as information began to circulate about drugs being taken there. The founder of the site, Denys Bihus, reportedly fired some employees, but later accused the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) of being behind the operation, which, according to Politico, the head of the agency, General Vasyl Malyuk, subsequently recognized as true.
Malyuk said the SBU Department for the Protection of National Statehood was involved in illegal wiretapping, and he had already dismissed the head of the department.
“We realize that we are protecting a democratic Ukraine, in which the strengthening of national statehood is one of the key priorities, the implementation of which should ensure, among other things, the uninterrupted work of the mass media and guarantee them a sufficient level of security,” he said in a statement.
Nikolov explained that one journalist he knows soon volunteered and secured a job in the information unit as a press coordinator. This post gave him the opportunity to publish his articles in top Ukrainian publications, but one of his columns “did not please the people in power and he was transferred to the combat unit. He was threatened with deployment in Avdijivka,” he said.
Journalists working in Ukraine agree that the situation in the country has improved, the mafia there has been weakened, but the problem, they say, is that it has not disappeared and is just waiting for the next opportunity. The shadow economy also fell from an estimated 43 percent of GDP in 2014 to 33 percent at the end of 2017, according to the report. There is also a new High Anti-Corruption Court that has convicted 157 government officials since 2019, according to court records. Zelensky also reduced the number of oligarchs in the country.
Yet The BBC drew attention to the case Ukrainian MP who was accused of embezzling more than 6.4 million crowns. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) claimed that the Ukrainian MP bought assets that significantly exceeded his official income. The Interfax Ukraine press agency and other Ukrainian media identified Andrije Kloček as the accused. Kločko became an MP for President Zelensky’s Servant of the People party. The already mentioned Bihus server drew attention to the case. However, NABU also pointed out that until a final court verdict is reached, the MP must be perceived as innocent.
In 2023, Ukraine was ranked 104th out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index by the non-governmental organization Transparency International.
Server Ukrainian truth pointed out that the famous oligarch Ihor Kolomoiky is also in custody. The Ukrainská pravda server wrote that another charge was added to his neck, specifically of an act related to contract murder.
“Under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General’s Office, a well-known businessman, suspected of legalizing property obtained by fraud, was informed of the suspicion of committing another crime related to the organization of contract murder,” wrote the Ukrainská pravda server.
According to the investigation, the oligarch, in order to take revenge, ordered the murder of the director of one of the legal companies for “non-compliance with the requirements for the cancellation and invalidation of the decision of the general meeting of shareholders of one company.”
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Ukraine (War in Ukraine)
Reports from the battlefield are difficult to verify in real time, regardless of whether they come from any side of the conflict. Both warring parties, for understandable reasons, may release completely or partially false (misleading) information.
PL editorial content discussing this conflict can be found on this page.
war in Ukraine
Reports from the battlefield are difficult to verify in real time, regardless of whether they come from any side of the conflict. Both warring parties, for understandable reasons, may release completely or partially false (misleading) information.
You can find brief information regarding this conflict updated by ČTK several times an hour on this page. PL editorial content discussing this conflict can be found on this page.
author: Miloš Polák
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Tags: oppress send front Ukrainian journalists Western press
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