Babel co-founder and chief editor Kateryna Kobernyk says her news outlet has faced pressure and smear attempts by MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak.
Kobernyk reported this in a Facebook post in response to the MP’s 16 June Telegram post where he asked after the real owner of the media outlet.
“By the way, I’m curious who is the real owner of the news outlet now. I heard that it’s someone from the defense industry, so I’d be grateful for detailed information. I’ll do some media hitmanship,” Zhelezniak wrote.
Kobernyk considers the MP’s words to be a “blatant lie” and a threat.
“This is such a blatant lie and a threat at the same time. A lie, because the names of Babel‘s real shareholders are well-known and there are no others. A threat, because, knowing for sure that this is the case, we are obviously supposed to start worrying and anticipating a fake investigation and mudslinging. We didn’t start worrying — we were just disgusted,” Kobernyk said.
She believes Zhelezniak’s post was a reaction to the critical material previously published by the media outlet, which analysed his investigations and statements. Two such articles were released, Kobernyk said.
Kobernyk added that the MP initially agreed with the criticism, but later started attacking the media outlet, alleging that “there is more than meets the eye” to the publication. She added that similar narratives about Babel’s alleged loyalty to the government have been peddled repeatedly by other pro-government bloggers.
In a comment to the Institute of Mass Information journalist Valentyna Troyan, Kobernyk reported that her team did not plan to contact the police regarding Yaroslav Zhelezniak’s statements for the time being.
“But if the official continues to spread disinformation, implying that Babel is hiding its real investors, which is obvious slander, we will do so. I believe that what Zhelezniak is doing is putting pressure on the editorial team and trying to intimidate them,” she said.
Kobernyk emphasised that the team did not plan to publish more information about the owners, since all the information is available in state registers and on the website.
“If you go to the ‘Investors’ section on the website, which not all media outlets have, the entire history of our investors will be written there. You can look, read, learn who bought what and when. There is a story there from 2020, when Babel was restarted, when Babel emerged in its current form, because we had closed down in 2019. And the names of previous investors from 2019 were also public. So we are as transparent as one can be. And what MP Zhelezniak is doing now follows the classic pro-Russian smear propaganda pattern, when someone wants to imply something and say, ‘Coincidence? I think not,’” she added.
Kobernyk also pointed out that the MP was blogging during working hours.
The Institute of Mass Information has reached out to Yaroslav Zhelezniak for comment.
The list of Babel shareholders changed in February 2026. On February 25, the Vyriy Industry owner and CEO Oleksiy Babenko bought out 75% of the news outlet from the Slovak company IG. 25% remained with the chief editor and founder Kateryna Kobernyk. Babenko joined the company as an individual.