Sevgil Musaieva - attack 27.04.2026

On April 24, 2026, a post about political analyst Mykola Davydiuk appeared on the X account @spilnoua. The post stated that after Holos party MP Volodymyr Tsabal resigns his parliamentary mandate, Davydiuk is expected to take his seat in parliament.

“Holos MP Volodymyr Tsabal is submitting his resignation. Next in line for the parliamentary seat is Mykola Ivanovych Davydiuk. Blogger. And also the civil partner of Ukrainska Pravda editor-in-chief Sevgil Musaieva-Borovyk,” the post reads. It is illustrated with a photograph of Mykola Davydiuk and Ukrainska Pravda editor-in-chief Sevgil Musaieva.

The post also refers to allegedly luxurious real estate owned by Sevgil Musaieva and Mykola Davydiuk, despite their publicly declared place of residence: “Living in luxury homes, driving large cars, and posing with Balenciaga bags is everyone’s personal choice. But doing so while simultaneously lecturing from the ‘most incorruptible media outlets’ about social justice and criticizing corrupt officials is a different story. It is a genre where words and reality exist in parallel universes”.

Comments under the post contained signs of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), particularly targeting Sevgil Musaieva. Users discussed the journalist’s appearance in a derogatory manner, compared her to a “Buryat woman,” deliberately misspelled her name (“Segvil,” “Sevgulsha”), and accused her of being corrupt and biased (“a journalist-whore who writes paid-for articles for money. Mykola helps her”), among other remarks.

This case demonstrates several forms of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), including gendered disinformation, online defamation, misogynistic hate speech, and a reputational attack. Although the original post focuses on Mykola Davydiuk’s potential political career, the discussion in the comments shifts in part to the journalist herself. Her professional work is discredited through unfounded accusations of being “paid off” and publishing “commissioned articles,” which constitute a typical form of online defamation and gendered disinformation aimed at undermining trust in a woman journalist.

The use of misogynistic slurs such as “journalist-whore,” as well as the deliberate distortion of the journalist’s name, appears intended to humiliate and belittle her. Taken together, these actions create a hostile online environment focused not on criticism of the journalist’s professional work, but on discrediting her as both a woman and a public figure.