On June 23, 2025, journalist Olena Mudra became the target of another coordinated online attack by information resources From-UA — Ukraine News and the Bagnet website. The publications groundlessly accuse her of working for the Kremlin, participating in a “syndicate of pseudo-environmentalists,” allegedly blocking the development of green energy in the Zakarpattia region, and collaborating with Russian organizations.
The visual manipulation was particularly widespread — an edited image where Mudra and other figures are depicted in the Russian military uniform, captioned “Ruscist Lobby in Zakarpattia.” This is accompanied by a post about “treason,” “the poisoned future of the Carpathians” and innuendos about alleged funding by Russia.
This image is an example of gender-based online-violence.
“An espionage scandal in the Carpathians! Journalist Olena Mudra, suspected of working for the Kremlin, is scheming against Ukraine’s energy independence. Together with a syndicate of “pseudo-environmentalists” she is blocking the development of “green” energy, serving the interests of Gazprom and the relocation of enterprises to Zakarpattia. Who is financing this treason? Read our investigation about how Russian rubles are poisoning the future of the Carpathians!” (Tags: the National Police of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Police of Zakarpattia Oblast)
Journalist Olena Mudra has been called a “Kremlin agent” and is publicly accused of treason, working for the enemy, and “lobbying for Russian interests” with no evidence to support these claims. This undermines her professional reputation and causes public condemnation and hatred.
According to Olena Mudra herself, the campaign to discredit the environmentalist community of Zakarpattia and her personally goes on. After the previous wave of information attacks, where activists would have several paragraphs dedicated to them in texts, the new one now contains publications fully dedicated to individual people. In these publications, according to Mudra, the authors manipulate using minor personal or professional facts about their targets to create massive false narratives.
She points out that the sources of these publications remain unchanged — in particular, From-UA, but this time the materials were also used in advertising aimed at residents of Zakarpattia.
Of particular concern is that the new publication includes her personal data, including information about her place of birth, which, she says, is not publicly available.
“This time the publication contains my personal data, including my place of birth. That is, they used information that is not public, thus, somebody committed abuse of office and provided this information to ensure continued pressure on me and persecution due to my professional journalistic activities,” said Olena Mudra.
Mudra suspects that someone illegally shared this information, and sees this as pressure and persecution related to her professional journalistic activities. She also does not rule out that the campaign may well go beyond the online space. In her opinion, the campaign may have been orchestrated by individuals associated with the TOV Wind Parks of Ukraine company, which she mentioned in her journalistic investigations. Olena Mudra fears that these people may know where she or her family lives.
The edited image where public figures are all put in Russian military uniforms with captions like “Ruscist lobby” is an example of dehumanization and visual harassment. This editing is aimed at humiliation and makes the audience associate the person with the enemy and danger.
“This is not just an attack — it is an attempt to silence a woman journalist by tarnishing her name, devaluing the investigation, and undermining trust in Olena Mudra’s work. And although this violence occurs online, its impact is very real,” emphasized Liza Kuzmenko, head of Women in Media NGO.
Such posts have an intimidating effect. They create a toxic environment where a journalist cannot safely express her opinions, especially if they are critical of the government or concern the environment, energy, or politics.
In addition, the From-UA resource has been repeatedly featured in monitoring reports as a source of manipulative or pro-Russian content. This makes it all the more likely that the publication is part of a coordinated information attack, particularly one targeting a woman journalist.
This post is an example of the technology of gender-based online violence, where a woman in the media sphere is subjected to targeted defamation with the use of visual editing, accusations of treason, and intimidation to discredit her and deprive her of influence. Such attacks have long-lasting psychological, professional, and social consequences.
We remind you that we have already reported how journalist Olena Mudra was attacked online due to her investigations about construction in the Carpathians.
Timeline:
- June 2, 2025: first wave of attacks, publication on the From-UA resource titled Media at the Service of the Aggressor?
- June 7, 2025: intensified campaign, material on the Bagnet website claiming that Mudra is “simulating an investigation”
- June 9, 2025: Mudra publicly announces the attack via a post on her Facebook page
- June 24, 2025: edited image posted on the From-UA Facebook page
One recent study that sheds light on the scale and nature of the problem is Her Voice, Their Target: Gendered Online Violence Against Ukrainian Women Journalists. Conducted by Women in Media in partnership with UNESCO and supported by Japan, the research found that 81% of respondents (out of 180 women media workers) had experienced some form of online violence. 14% of those reported that threats had escalated from digital abuse to physical danger.
Despite the severity of the attacks, only 19% of women journalists sought help from law enforcement. The most common forms of abuse included misogynistic and sexist language (e.g., slurs like “journawhore”) and defamatory narratives aimed at discrediting the journalist’s professional reputation — such as being falsely portrayed as “pro-Russian.”
This case has been documented as part of the initiative “Strengthening the Resilience of Women Journalists in Ukraine: Countering Online Violence and Gendered Disinformation,” implemented by the Women in Media NGO with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.