Syrsky Orders Probe into Reported Attempt by Official to Get Investigative Journalist Served a Draft Notice

Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Sunday that he’d instructed his staff to investigate a reported attempt to serve an illegitimate draft notice to a Ukrainian investigative journalist who might’ve gotten on the wrong side of a high-level official.

On April 4, the Slidstvo.info investigative journalist, Yevhen Shkurat published a story on Illya Vityuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine’s (SBU) cybersecurity department.

In his report, Shkurat alleged that Vityuk and his wife, Yuliya Vityuk, could not have afforded the couple’s estimated $1.5 million apartment on their income – and thus may have benefited from some form of corruption.

The Vityuks did not comment on the story.

On April 1, on the eve of the publication of the Slidstvo investigation, Shkurat was approached in a Kyiv shopping mall by military draft center officials who intended to serve him with a military call-up notice.

After watching CCTV footage, the journalist’s colleagues reported that the officers had been instructed by a person spotted at the same location, who turned out to be an SBU operative, to specifically approach Shkurat.

The Slidstvo news outlet also reported that they’d been warned against publishing the story.

Following the news, the Ukrainian media association, Mediarukh, issued a statement demanding that criminal proceedings be initiated for those involved.

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“Illegal surveillance of a journalist by representatives of the special services and the use of the military as a tool to stop journalistic investigations is an unacceptable and threatening precedent,” Mediaruk said.

On Sunday, Ukraine’s military commander also reacted to the story.

“Seeing the report published by Slidstvo.info, I tasked the Ground Forces commander with conducting an official investigation. Appropriate decisions will be made based on its results,” Syrsky wrote in a Facebook post.

Syrsky said that military servicemen are grateful for the work of the hundreds of journalists who have gone to cover the front line and to those who’ve been fighting against propaganda and disinformation.

“We cherish the memory of journalists who died in battle,” Syrsky said.

“It is also important to emphasize that the professional activities of journalists are respected by the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and protected by Ukrainian legislation. The Armed Forces of Ukraine condemn any cases of violations by military officials,” Syrsky stated.

As reported by the Ukrainian news site Ukrinform, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, said that he spoke with the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, who “made it clear that the incident will not go unnoticed.”