On 19 June 2024, Ukrainian reporter Anna Kaliuzhna said that she and several other journalists had been discredited by military commander Dmytro Kukharchuk, who posted a list of journalists on Facebook, claiming that he “would not accuse [those on the list] of treason”, but that they were “indecent”, in his opinion. In the post, Kukharchuk mentioned Kaliuzhna (who uses the name An Zhuliak on Facebook) and several other media workers, most of whom are women.
After the publication of the post, several individuals, including reportedly soldiers under Kukharchuk’s command, sent threats to Kaliuzhna by text message. The messages included threats to rape her and her parents. Kaliuzhna also posted a screenshot of a conversation she had with Kukharchuk on Facebook messenger in reaction to the incident, in which the commander seemed to dismiss his responsibility for the threats the journalist received.
Kaliuzhna later said that she would file the case with police. It was not known whether the other journalists on Kukharchuk’s list were also targeted with threats. Kaliuzhna currently works as an independent reporter. In the past, she worked with major Ukrainian online outlets such as Bihus.Info, Channel 24, Espreso TV and STB.
UPDATE: On 20 June 2024, Kaliuzhna reported that police had opened an investigation into her case for “obstruction of legal journalistic activities” and for “threats to relatives of a journalist”. No information was available as to whether any suspects were identified in the case.