Chetverta Vlada reports smearing attempts after news of obstruction by City Council

The investigative journalism agency Chetverta Vlada was targeted with libel. The media outlet believes this has to do with their reporting criticizing the Rivne City Council chief of communications, Yana Yevtushok, whom the team accused of interfering with their work, reports Hanna Kalaur, the Institute of Mass Information representative in Rivne oblast.

On October 31, the websites CRiME and Press Center posted identical, potentially commissioned article titled "The Russian Orthodox Church abroad or the Job of Pochayiv parish – the little secret of the Torbichs, possible separatists". On November 1, a similar article appeared on the website News 24. All these websites claim to be news resources with a news feed, editorial offices, contacts, etc.

Screenshot of an article smearing the journalists from News 24

The articles are written as exposure and allege that Chetverta Vlada has ties to the Russian special services because the deputy editor Antonina Torbich shares a registration address with a Moscow Patriarchate congregation. In fact, the IMI representative points out, Antonina Torbich is not registered at the address listed in this article, and the congregation that used the media outlet's premises for some time in the past has no relation to the UOC MP or the Russian Church, but is an independent religious community.

The rest of the article is written by artificial intelligence. "We asked an AI. Here's what it told us..." the text says.

The Chetverta Vlada chief editor Volodymyr Torbich noted that the commissioned article used "the same false theses about his family and the Chetverta Vlada team that were previously voiced by representatives of the party/NGO Rivne Razom in conversations with journalists."

"Obviously, the person who came up with this used the Nazi and ruscist propaganda tips: 'The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it.' I started collecting materials to file a lawsuit and declare the reported information to be untrue," said Torbich in the comment to the IMI representative.

Volodymyr Torbich believes the smearing attempt has to do with their reporting on obstruction faced by Chetverta Vlada journalists on the part of Yana Yevtushok, the Rivne Council chief of communications. The media outlet said that the official was deliberately ignoring journalists' requests for an interview with Victor Shakirzyan.

"I believe that it (the libel – Ed.) was commissioned by an organized political and financial group behind the Rivne Razom brand," said Volodymyr Torbich.

The IMI representative in Rivne oblast asked the head of the Rivne Razom press office, Andriy Smus, to comment on Rivne Razom's involvement in the libel.

"It's hard for me to say whether Rivne Razom is involved in this," said Andriy Smus.

IMI representative Hanna Kalaur also tried to get a comment from Yana Yevtushok on this matter, but the official picked up neither her work nor personal phone. The attempts to contact other employees of the communications department also failed. The IMI representative has texted her questions to Yana Yevtushok on social media and is ready to report her position when she replies.

Rivne Razom is a party and an NGO founded by the current acting the mayor of Rivne, Victor Shakirzyan. In the 2020 local elections, Victor Shakirzyan was a candidate from the Rivne Razom party while handing out "humanitarian aid" to voters as the leader of the NGO. Today, the Rivne Razom party has one of the largest factions in the Rivne City Council.