In an interview published by Liga.net on October 15, Ukraine‘s presidential advisor, Dmytro Litvyn, called Ukrainska Pravda’s allegations of pressure coming from the Presidential Office “an incorrect story”.
Lytvyn’s response came after a silence of almost a week after Ukrainska Pravda – one of Ukraine’s most prominent newspapers – claimed that the Ukrainian Government was exerting “systematic” pressure against the outlet.
In a press release published on October 9, the newspaper claimed that officials were ordered not to communicate directly with Ukrainska Pravda reporters, who were also denied access to official functions. The outlet also claimed that businesses were being pressured to stop advertising on its website and not sponsor events Ukrainska Pravda hosts.
In a subsequent article published the following day, Ukrainska Pravda stated, without disclosing their sources, that Lytvyn was one of the key figures in this campaign. He had been the speechwriter for President Volodymyr Zelensky and appointed his advisor in Septembre.
Lytvyn, when asked about the accusations, said that he didn’t have his own version.
“It’s impossible to refute this story in a way that is effective. Who will believe you if you say you’re not doing something? “If so many people are saying the opposite,” Lytvyn replied.
“This story is incorrect. “They say something abstract and you have to refute as if it was something concrete,” he said.
Lytvyn claimed Ukrainska Pravda never asked him any questions or for comments in the last three years.
In a comment made to Liga.net by Ukrainska Pravda’s Roman Romaniuk, the journalist said that the publication had sent an official request to the Presidential Office in regards to a heated exchange between Zelensky and their journalist Roman Kravets during a recent media conference.
Romaniuk, author of the article, stated that because this request was ignored by the Presidential Office, Ukrainska Pravda didn’t contact them again before publishing their article on government pressure.
Ukraine’s independent press has made great strides since 2014’s EuroMaidan Revolution, but there are concerns since Russia’s full scale invasion.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in June, indicated the “shrinking of press freedom” in Ukraine. They highlighted a “worrying decrease” in support and respect media autonomy as well as increased pressure by the state or other actors in Ukraine. The statement was made one month after RSF’s annual press freedom index showed that Ukraine had improved compared to the previous year.
According to Ukrainian editors and watchdogs of press freedom, as reported by the Kyiv independent in July, the media are still under pressure from authorities. This is despite attacks on investigative reporters provoking a public outcry.
“We have faced pressure in our work many times.” “The last time we experienced such economic restrictions was under the presidency of (Leonid Kuchma”)”, Sevgil Musayeva, editor-in chief of Ukrainska Pravda told the Kyiv Independent in October. She was referring to Ukraine’s president between 1994 and 2005.
Since Ukrainska Pravda’s founding in 2000, two journalists have been killed – co-founder Georgiy Gongadze and top editor Pavel Sheremet.
Gongadze was kidnapped in September 2000. He was a critic of the then-President Kuchma. Two months later, the headless body of Gongadze was found in a wooded area about 70 kilometers from Kyiv.
Sheremet, a Belarusian born in Kyiv, was blown up inside his car on July 20, 2016.
Musayeva emphasized the importance of bringing to light the pressures that Ukrainska Pravda faces and called on the international audience to take notice.
She said, “Ukraine has to remain a democratic country and freedom of expression is one of the most valuable values in a society that is free.”
Dmytro Lytvyn, Ukraine’s presidential advisor, reacted after almost a full week of silence following Ukrainska Pravda’s claim that the Ukrainian Government is exerting “systematic” pressure against one of Ukraine’s largest news media sites.
The statement follows an article in the French newspaper Le Monde that claimed that Tuareg fighters of the anti-government CSP were using Ukrainian drones to attack the military and Wagner mercenaries.
“Now the town is more like a desert world: there are no shelters either for civilians or soldiers,” Anastasia Bobovnikova said, a spokesperson for the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk.
“It was (Ukraine) the apple of his eyes; he used talk about it.” Donald Trump said that he had told him, “You’re not going to go in, and he was not going to go in.”
This includes 1,210 casualties that Russian forces have suffered in the last day.
According to Vitalii Kim, the Russian forces attacked the city at around 2:30 am with S-300 anti-aircraft weapons. An industrial complex, a restaurant, shops, residential structures, and cars were all damaged.
According to the Eastern Human Rights Group, Ukrainians suffering from diabetes, bronchial asthma, and other illnesses on Russian-occupied territory will no longer be eligible for free medication unless they obtain Russian passports by 2025.
Lubos Blaha is a senior member of the pro-Russian Smer party (Direction), led by Robert Fico, who visited Moscow on October 12.
Josep Borrell announced on October 14 that he plans to extend the EUMAM for two more years, pending the approval of the EU Council.
On Oct. 14, hundreds of Ukrainian schools, businesses and media outlets including the Kyiv Independent received bomb threats by email. This prompted evacuations. The threats were linked to a recent investigation conducted by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty into Russian security services sabotage of Ukraine.
Andrii Kostin, the prosecutor general of Brazil, said that “information” that Putin might attend the G20 Summit in Brazil obligates the Brazilian authorities to arrest him.
According to Ukraine’s Military Intelligence, Russia’s fall and winter plans include “the actual participation of North Korea in war”, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 14.
The treaty stipulates that both countries must provide military support to each other in the event of an attack. The first treaty was signed by Putin in June 2024 with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
According to German intelligence chief Bruno Kahl, Moscow’s ultimate goal is to “push” the U.S. “out of Europe,” to roll back NATO borders to the 1990s and to create a Russian sphere of influence that will cement a new world order.
Russian investigators claimed Laurent Vinatier, in addition to violating the registration of foreign agents, had pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining military information.
According to the regional prosecutor, an FPV drone targeted a civilian vehicle with five people in it, killing two women, aged 72 and 56. It also injured a man, 72, and a woman, 63, and injured a 72-year old woman.
Pavlo Rozlach said that the commander of Ukraine’s 80th air assault brigade, Pavlo, had revealed that a Ukrainian company sneaked into Kursk Oblast and hid themselves in the forest in groups of six soldiers.
According to a report published by the Kyiv Institute of Economics (KSE), 70% of Russia’s seaborne exports are transported by its “shadow fleet” of older, poorly insured tankers.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated that “there can be no appeasement of Russia” if it continues to try and solve the ‘problem,’ of Ukraine’s existence.
The EU’s sanction list now includes individuals and entities that are responsible for the transfer of drones and rockets to Russia.
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