Ukraine's Security Service uses military enlistment office as revenge against journalist for investigation – video

Military enlistment office officers approached Yevhen Shulhat, an investigative journalist from Slidstvo.Info, and tried to serve him with an enlistment notice on Monday, 1 April in the Obolonskyi district of Kyiv.

Source: Slidstvo.info, a team of independent professional journalists

Details: During the conversation, the servicemen said that Yevhen had recently turned 27 and had not come to the military enlistment office to update his data [which is a regular and mandatory procedure in Ukraine during martial law – ed.].

Shulhat recorded everything on camera but did not take the notice. The officers recorded his refusal and left.

The journalists obtained video footage from a surveillance camera. It shows Shulhat entering a shopping centre at 21:08.

A few minutes later, two military enlistment office officers enter the supermarket. They are accompanied by a man in civilian clothes. The journalists believe that the man in civilian clothes was giving instructions to the officers. 

While Shulhat was in the supermarket, a man in civilian clothes walked by the cash registers and then quickly came back to the military. He actively gestured, pointing in different directions to the officers and then left the shopping centre. Less than a minute later, the officers approached Shulhat. 

From what was seen, it can be concluded that this man was pointing at Yevhen Shulhat. When the officers approached the journalist, they called him by his name.

Journalists from Slidstvo.info have identified the men as being representatives of the Solomianskyi District Military Enlistment Office.

One of them confirmed that he worked in this particular military enlistment office, but refused to answer questions about the events that occurred there. He said that such questions could only be asked through his command. His colleague responded in the same way.

The officers did not agree to identify the person who had pointed Shulhat out to them. We sent a request with detailed questions about the incident to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Perhaps they will explain on what grounds this person in civilian clothes was giving instructions to the military.

The journalists' sources helped figure out exactly who the man was who was directing the officers. It could have been Oleksii Bilenko, a person close to Illia Vitiuk and who works in the cyber security department of the Security Service of Ukraine.

That is, in the department headed by Vitiuk, a person involved in an investigation being conducted by Yevhen Shulhat.

Oleksii Bilenko did not answer the journalists' calls and blocked them after they sent messages in messenger apps.

The journalists plan to file a complaint with the police.

Background: Investigative journalists found an apartment purchased by Vitiuk's wife in December 2023 for more than 20 million hryvnias (about US$512,000) at the market price. However, the official's declaration states that 12.8 million hryvnias (US$328,000) was paid for the apartment.

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