Olha Haniukova - attack 08.08.2026

On August 8, 2026, Olha Haniukova, a journalist at Oboz.ua, received a WhatsApp call to her personal phone number from a man who identified himself as Serhii Yaniuk, a veteran of the Russia-Ukraine war with the call sign Latysh. In an aggressive manner, he demanded that the outlet remove an article published almost a year earlier, in September 2025, titled “Ukraine Exposes Major Alleged Fundraising Scam for the Armed Forces: Who Is Iryna Hotun and Why the Scandal Is Escalating.”

In the article, the author referred to information provided by Colonel Anatolii Shtefan of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who had drawn attention to Iryna Hotun’s fundraising activities and suggested that they might contain signs of fraudulent conduct.

During his conversation with the journalist, Serhii Yaniuk was unable to explain his connection to Iryna Hotun or why he had raised concerns about the article almost a year after its publication. He also sent Olha Haniukova several video messages demanding that the article be removed.

Later, Serhii Yaniuk began calling the personal phone number of the editor-in-chief of Oboz.ua. The first call was made on August 8, 2026, at around 11:00 p.m. He subsequently contacted other colleagues of the journalists as well as members of their families. For example, Lesia Hasych told Women in Media that he had called the personal phone number of her brother, who lives abroad.

In the video messages sent by Serhii Yaniuk, he used language threatening to “spoil” and “ruin the lives” of the journalists and described their work as “rotten, vile actions.” He also stated that if the authors of the article did not “correct themselves,” “I and other warriors will help you do so.”

Although the editorial team eventually temporarily removed the article from the website for an additional fact-check, the pressure from Serhii Yaniuk did not stop. For example, he called the police to the Oboz.ua office. Lesia Hasych and Olha Haniukova subsequently filed reports with law enforcement authorities concerning threats and obstruction of their professional journalistic activities. The National Police of Ukraine opened criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, concerning threats or violence against journalists.

This case shows possible signs of technology-facilitated violence and harassment targeting women journalists. The pressure was carried out through digital means of communication, including personal WhatsApp calls and multiple video messages containing aggressive demands to remove a journalistic publication. The threats to “spoil” and “ruin” the journalists’ lives, as well as the statement that he and “other warriors” would help the journalists “correct themselves,” may indicate an attempt to intimidate the journalists and influence their professional activities. Importantly, the pressure continued even after the article was temporarily removed for additional fact-checking.

The harassment also extended beyond the professional sphere. The man reportedly contacted not only the author of the article and the editor-in-chief but also other newsroom employees and members of their families, including Lesia Hasych’s brother, who lives abroad. This may indicate a pattern of systematic harassment and the use of journalists’ private lives and personal networks as an additional means of pressure.

At the same time, for the case to be conclusively classified as gender-based violence, it would be necessary to establish whether the harassment was connected specifically to the journalists’ sex or gender and whether gender-specific insults, threats, or other misogynistic forms of abuse were used.