Kateryna Lykhohliad - attack 23.06.2026

On 23 June 2026, the Ukrainian media outlet Babel published an investigative report by journalist Kateryna Lykhohliad titled: “The Skelia Assault Regiment Has Combat Achievements and Is Well Equipped. But Eyewitnesses Say People Are Tortured and Beaten to Death There. A Babel Investigation.”

The investigation documented numerous testimonies alleging systematic violence against mobilized servicemen during training in the Skelia Assault Regiment. Babel interviewed eyewitnesses, relatives of soldiers, and other sources who described beatings, torture, cruel treatment, denial of adequate medical care, and other abuses. According to the investigation, 26 recruits died in the regiment’s training centers over the previous six months. Their relatives and fellow servicemen linked these deaths to systemic violence or delayed medical treatment.

Video: Mykola “Kyianyn” Kharkhan, Facebook

Following the publication of the video, comments repeating similar narratives about Babel allegedly being “paid” and its female journalists supposedly working “in Russia’s interests” began appearing both under Kharkhan’s Facebook post and on other online platforms. For example, users commented:

• “These journalist whores will still answer for what they’ve said.”
• “Both the journalist whores and those profiting from this hate should be held accountable.”
• “Punish the journalists for spreading false information.”

Similar attacks also appeared beneath a YouTube video in which Editor-in-Chief Kateryna Kobernyk and investigation author Kateryna Lykhohliad discussed the investigation. Among the comments were:

• “Every Babel journalist should take a polygraph test to check for ties with Russia’s FSB.”
• “This is all lies. You’re provocateurs working for Russia. Glory to Ukraine, glory to the Skelia Regiment, shame on Babel’s lying journalists.”
• “Lykhohliad, there will be an investigation into your ties with the FSB and your work for them.”
• “SBU counterintelligence should investigate Babel for being paid by the FSB.”
• “These two sluts are talking nonsense. The war is going on, and these painted-up whores are spreading lies.”
• “The only question about Babel is whether they work for Russia for money or out of conviction.”

Some comments also contained what could be interpreted as threats of retaliation, including physical and sexual violence, apparently intended to intimidate the journalists:

• “Pretty girls. Moscow’s rapists will like them—if Skelia, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine in general, were to fall.”
• “These journalist whores who published unverified information and tarnished the reputation of the best unit in the Armed Forces because of a couple of filthy drug addicts who didn’t want to fight or learn to fight should themselves be tied to ATVs.”
• “Lykhohliad will end up in prison for slander.”

This case demonstrates clear indicators of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) directed at both the investigation’s author and the Babel editorial team. The combination of online threats, online defamation, hate speech, misogynistic abuse, and coordinated reputational attacks, together with the simultaneous dissemination of similar narratives in a serviceman’s public video statement and across multiple online platforms, suggests a targeted online campaign aimed at discrediting the journalists and undermining public trust in the findings of their investigation.