On 10 May 2024, Mykhailo Tkach, the lead investigative journalist at online news outlet Ukrainska Pravda, reportedly received a threatening message in an instant messaging app, which appeared to be linked to a recent investigation he had published. The investigation was related to a group of young and wealthy men from Kyiv, whom Tkach accused of having illegally obtained permission to leave the country.
This permission would have been based on the dubious grounds of the men not being fit for military service, or being on official business, which according to Tkach seemed unlikely in the context of social media publications from the trip abroad made by one of the men in question.
In the threatening message to Tkach, Oleksandr Slobozhenko, the author of one of the publications, reportedly proposed to pay the journalist and “come to an agreement”. Slobozhenko would have finished his message with the following words: “I advise [you] not to delay your answer. I also know how to fight.”
On May 11, on the day after Slobozhenko sent his first threatening message, Tkach reported several unsuccessful attempts by unknown individuals to gain access to his bank account, as well as “dozens” of SMS messages with authorization codes from banking and credit institutions, Ukrainska Pravda wrote.
On May 13, at least 10 Ukrainska Pravda journalists received identical emails with threats mentioning Tkach, in which the author of the email wrote: “sometimes the ability to shut your mouth can save [your] life”, in clear reference to the journalist’s investigations.
Ukrainska Pravda said that it was addressing the issue to security forces, as the threats were an attack on Tkach’s activities as a journalist. The outlet also demanded the identification of those responsible for the events. On the following day, Ukraine’s police force said that it was opening a criminal case for “obstruction of legal journalistic activities” as well as “threats directed at a journalist”. However, in their statement security forces did not mention Slobozhenko, who was accused of orchestrating the threats directed at Tkach.
Under martial law in Ukraine, men of military age are not allowed to leave the country, unless if previously declared to be not fit for military service or if on official duty after receiving temporary permission to leave from authorities. In the case of the young men depicted in Tkach’s investigation, three would have been officially declared unfit for military service, while the fourth would have declared to authorities that he was traveling as a volunteer, presumably to coordinate deliveries of humanitarian aid to Ukraine. According to Tkach, all four men appeared on an Instagram photo posted from a high-end skiing resort in France at the time of their trip abroad.