Vlasta Lazur - attack 11.12.2025

On 11 December 2025, another episode of the talk show Novyi Vidlik aired on Suspilne’s First Channel under the title “Has the Government (Not) Found a Way Out? Unauthorized Absence (AWOL), Territorial Recruitment Centers (TRCs), and Mobilization: New Turns of Frontline Challenges.” The show was hosted by Vlasta Lazur and Andrii Dikhtiarenko. During the broadcast, the host muted the microphone of one of the guests—Andrii Kovalov, a spokesperson for the General Staff and an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This incident was highlighted in a post by user Oleksandr Babak.

While in the studio, Andrii Kovalov claimed that Hromadske journalist Diana Butsko had spread inaccurate information alleging that servicemembers who return after AWOL can only be assigned to assault units. He also stated that he had personally spoken with Diana Butsko, who allegedly told him she had based the story on “rumors” heard from the military. In response, Vlasta Lazur emphasized that Diana Butsko was not present in the studio and therefore could not respond to the accusation. Kovalov then proceeded to mention two additional alleged “fakes,” further deviating from the main topic of the program, after which his microphone was turned off.

As a result of this situation, Vlasta Lazur faced a wave of comments and posts directed at her that contained signs of online harassment, gender disinformation, online defamation, hate speech, and sexism. For example: “She pretends to be a journalist, but in reality she’s just a propagandist, attacking a serviceman like a market shrew and even turning off his microphone so he couldn’t refute the FAKEs spread by ‘journalists’ like her. Disgusting to watch—she turned it into a bazaar. Fire this foul-mouthed woman.”

Subsequently, an official comment appeared under Oleksandr Babak’s post from the Suspilne Broadcasting account:

“Dear Oleksandr, thank you for your attention to the Novyi Vidlik talk show. We are open to fair dialogue based on the full context. The circulated video clip does not reflect the complete picture of the 90-minute program, during which Andrii Kovalov had sufficient airtime to express his position. The hosts monitor the regulations, timing, and adherence to the program’s topic by all participants in accordance with the talk show format. Discussion in the studio must remain balanced. Suspilne does not spread false news and adheres to professional standards. This applies in particular to the news about AWOL and assault units referenced by the speaker. Monitoring by independent experts shows that we consistently lead in balance and content quality.”

Hromadske journalist Diana Butsko also posted on her page, commenting on the situation from her perspective—according to her, she had not had a conversation with Andrii Kovalov on this topic. Nevertheless, after the broadcast some users on social media continued to accuse her of spreading fakes, citing Kovalov’s statements made during the same program.

Later, Vlasta Lazur herself clarified the situation on Facebook, explaining that the General Staff spokesperson’s microphone had indeed been turned off after several warnings:
“Dear friends, allow me to put a final full stop in the discussion that swept through Facebook under the conditional headline ‘the host turned off a serviceman’s microphone.’ This concerns the fact that, while hosting Novyi Vidlik on Suspilne’s First Channel, I asked for the microphone of Andrii Kovalov—a General Staff spokesperson, Armed Forces officer, and political scientist—to be turned off. Yes, I asked. This happened after several warnings and requests not to deviate from the topic of the broadcast,” Lazur wrote.

In this case, a routine editorial decision during a talk show was taken out of context and turned into a pretext for a public attack. Turning off a guest’s microphone due to deviation from the topic was portrayed as alleged censorship and an “attack on a serviceman,” triggering a wave of manipulative interpretations. Despite official explanations from Suspilne Broadcasting, the position of journalist Diana Butsko, and the host’s own clarification, simplified and distorted narratives became entrenched in the public space.

The reaction to Vlasta Lazur’s actions took the form of online harassment marked by gender disinformation, defamation, sexism, and hate speech. The criticism focused not on professional standards or the program format, but on personal and gendered insults that devalued the woman host. Taken together, this case illustrates how a media incident can be exploited for a large-scale reputational attack and gender-based online violence against women journalists.