On 4 December 2023, online publication Kremenchuk Today published an article discrediting the editor of Kremenchutska Gazeta, another news website from the city of Kremenchuk. In the article, Kremenchutska Gazeta was accused of “discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine” in the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion and of being financed by a fugitive Ukrainian oligarch. None of the accusations against the outlet and Bulashev personally, which included working as an unofficial press secretary to a Ukrainian bishop with links to Russia, having previously worked for a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party, publishing links to videos of a pro-Russian blogger and promoting a late pro-Russian politician, were backed with links to publications by Kremenchutska Gazeta, its social media accounts or those of its editor-in-chief.
In a comment to the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), a Ukrainian press freedom group, Bulashev denied all the accusations, adding that what he called “cyber-bullying” by Kremenchuk Today had been going on for several years. Filing complaints to police had not helped the outlet and its editor, Bulashev said, as the website is fully anonymous and courts are not able to determine defendants in potential cases. According to IMI, the conflict between Kremenchutska Gazeta and Kremenchuk Today has now been going on for several years. The press freedom group also quoted an independent expert opinion, according to which both meda outlets had violated general rules of journalist ethics in the course of this conflict.