Liubov Velychko - attack 31.08.2026

On 31 August 2026, Facebook user Vladyslav Smirnov published a post criticising the working methods of investigative journalist, Texty.org.ua freelancer, and disinformation researcher Liubov Velychko. The post was accompanied by a screenshot of the journalist’s Facebook profile.

The post was prompted by a private message from Liubov Velychko, in which she approached Vladyslav Smirnov for comment while preparing a story about the dissemination of anti-mobilisation content. The author interpreted her question not as a journalistic inquiry but as a manipulative “interrogation” and used the situation to criticise grant-funded media and public authorities.

In a comment to Women in Media, Liubov Velychko said that she had contacted Vladyslav Smirnov to provide him with a right of reply in accordance with journalistic standards:

“I am working on an investigation in which I have identified accounts that disseminate anti-mobilisation content. To give them an opportunity to exercise their right of reply, in accordance with journalistic standards, I send all of them, without exception, questions about what motivates them to share such content,” Liubov Velychko said.

In his post, Vladyslav Smirnov also mentioned that Texty.org.ua operates with the support of international organisations and linked the outlet to George Soros’s Open Society Foundations.

“At this stage, they are already outraged by the very fact that I ask such uncomfortable questions. And they launch this information attack, apparently to discredit me even before the story is published,” Liubov Velychko said.

Several days earlier, on 23 August 2026, Facebook user Anton Hura also published a post mentioning the journalist and containing screenshots of his correspondence with her.

Third parties left comments about Liubov Velychko under these two posts. Some of the comments show signs of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), including sexist and gendered insults, misogynistic humiliation, and attempts to undermine the journalist’s professional competence:

• “She is not a journalist; she is a ‘journawhore’.”
• “Where do journalists like this come from? It is as if she was born yesterday.”
• “Someone should ask this freak what her nationality is…”
• “She should have gone through the comments; plenty of people there also oppose mobilisation. There is no point talking to people like her. I always wonder what is going on in their family and with their parents—which generation did the insanity start in?”
• “Liubov is fucking crazy and definitely does not live in Ukraine!”
• “These Soros-funded activists behaved the same way during COVID, when they branded as anti-vaxxers those who expressed their views on compulsory vaccination and defended people’s rights.”
• “What is it, Liuba? Sitting there making a list of everyone commenting? That will keep you busy all day.”
• “Liuba has no place in journalism. She manipulates public opinion and is detached from reality. She has attached herself to Zelenskyy’s team.”
• “Liuba should wait a little. Once women are mobilised, she will understand everything.”

In this case, it is important to distinguish between the content of the posts by Vladyslav Smirnov and Anton Hura and the statements made by third parties in the comments beneath them. Women in Media does not classify Vladyslav Smirnov’s own post as a form of TFGBV and does not claim that he authored the offensive comments quoted above or is responsible for statements made by other users. His post is mentioned solely as the public context in which third-party comments were documented.

It is specific comments that show signs of TFGBV: their authors used sexist and gendered insults, misogynistic disparagement, and attacks on the journalist’s professional competence. The slur rendered above as “journawhore” is intended to humiliate the journalist through gendered abuse, while the reference to the possible mobilisation of women uses her gender as a means of intimidation and belittlement. Suggestions that she is mentally unstable, infantilising remarks, and claims that Liubov Velychko “has no place in journalism” further contribute to personal harassment and professional discrediting.

At the same time, criticism of the journalist’s working methods, her questions, grant funding for media, or political views, when it has no gender component, does not in itself constitute TFGBV. Such statements may form part of professional or political debate, even if the journalist considers them unfair or damaging to her reputation. This monitoring entry does not assess the lawfulness of the critical posts; it documents gendered online harassment found in comments made by third parties.

This clarification was added following a request from Vladyslav Smirnov to clearly distinguish the content of his post from comments made by other users.