KCMA spokesperson dismissed following threats to Vilne Radio journalist

Yevhen Iyevlev, spokesperson for the Kyiv City Military Administration, has been dismissed from his post following threats to Vilne Radio journalist Yevhen Vakulenko, the Kyiv City Military Administration chair Timur Tkachenko announced on Telegram.

Yevhen Iyevlev. Photo by Yevhen Iyevlev on Facebook

He added that May 12 was Iyevlev’s last day working as spokesperson.

“I want to thank Yevhen for his work on this job. And I would like to thank him once more for defending Ukraine. We are currently looking for a spokesperson. This process has been somewhat delayed. For now, I will be communicating on behalf of the KCMA personally. All official information and positions are on my official resources and those of the KCMA,” Tkachenko wrote, without disclosing the reasons for Iyevlev’s dismissal.

On May 12, Iyevlev discussed the recent conflict with Vilne Radio journalist Yevhen Vakulenko in a Facebook post, admitting that he had behaved unprofessionally.

He explained his behavior, citing his PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) which he has had for the past year and a half. Iyevlev said he has been suffering from the disorder since August 7, 2023, when a mass missile strike on Pokrovsk killed 11 people.

“When I was offered a job in Kyiv, I agreed without hesitation. I just wanted to escape from that endless horror. But even in Kyiv, my condition has hardly changed. The noise of a subway train resembles the sound of a missile flying by… I never fall sleep earlier than 3 a.m. I’m not writing this to make excuses. There are no excuses here. I’m writing this so that we as a society begin to realize: war will leave deep traces in everyone who has experienced it up close,” Iyevlev wrote.

Previously

On April 5, 2025, the team of Vilne Radio, a media outlet relocated from Bakhmut (Donetsk oblast), reported violent threats to their journalist Yevhen Vakulenko from the Kyiv City Military Administration spokesperson Yevhen Iyevlev.

The journalist received threats following the release of the article “From buses to Infiniti: what car purchases in the Donetsk enlistment centre employees' 2024 declarations raise questions”, where he reported on the wealth of the employees of Donetsk oblast enlistment centres for 2024. The media outlet took all the data for the article from open sources – the Unified State Register of Declarations.

One of the figures mentioned in the article was was Yevhen Iyevlev's father Serhiy Iyevlev, a serviceman working at the Pokrovsk district enlistment center. He declared a 2011 Toyota Land Cruiser worth 773 thousand hryvnias as the property of his wife Svitlana Iyevleva. However, the latter has no official income, according to the documents.

A private message exchange between Iyevlev and Vakulenko folowed, in which Iyevlev used obscene language. Namely, he claimed that he would “smash the journalist's f***ing face in” if they met in person. He called Vakulenko “an enemy of Ukraine and of the Ukrainian people” who “sells trash content.”

Iyevlev later explained that he “allowed himself some emotion regarding the author” because the latter's article mentioned Iyevlev’s family.