Maria Shynder, mother of late UAF servicemember Vasyl Shynder, is suing the news websites Depytaty? and My Vinnychany over their reporting. She is asking the court to declare the reported information about her son false, demanding that both news articles be taken down and a retraction be published, reports the Institute of Mass Information’s regional representative in Vinnytsia oblast, who reviewed the claim.
The Vinnytsia City Court opened general claim proceedings on 24 August 2026. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 23 September. The media outlets are preparing their responses to the claim.
Rather than filing two separate lawsuits, Shynder has opted for one civil law case. The listed defendants are Volodymyr Shynder (father of the late serviceman), the NGO Automaidan Vinnychchyna, the Depytaty? founder, the NGO Liha Spravedlyvosti Ukrainy, and the My Vinnychany founder.
The dispute concerns two news stories. On 2 April 2026, Depytaty? published a piece titled “A Sole Proprietor from Beyond the Grave: How a Fallen Hero Won Public Procurement Contracts in Khmilnyk”. The following day, the website My Vinnychany released an article titled “How a Soldier Killed in 2022 Won Millions in Government Tenders in Khmilnyk”.
The news concerned Vasyl Shynder’s activity as a sole proprietor after he went missing in action in Donetsk oblast in October 2022. The media outlets reported on a series of deals that were signed in the entrepreneur’s name in that time, the likely use of his digital signature, and a family dispute over the state payment made to the late soldier’s relatives.
The news articles cited Volodymyr Shynder, the servicemember’s father, as one of the sources. He shared documents, tables containing information about the deals, and copies of his complaints to law enforcement bodies with the journalists.
Maria Shynder disputes the claims set out in the news. In her statement of claim, she says that the status of a person missing under special circumstances did not cancel her son’s civil legal capacity, nor did it automatically invalidate his status as sole proprietor.
According to the claimant’s account, the entrepreneur’s obligations could have been fulfilled by hired employees and representatives. She also claims that the contracts in question were not signed using the digital signature, and that some of the transactions were direct purchases rather than competitive tenders.
Maria Shynder is asking the court to declare the information reported in both articles false, to order the websites’ founders to take down the news, and to publish a retraction. Under the claim’s demands, the retraction must remain publicly accessible for the same period of time the disputed articles were.
The claimant is also seeking 10,000 hryvnias in moral damages, to be paid in equal shares by Volodymyr Shynder and the two media outlets. The claim estimates the costs associated with the trial at 92,000 hryvnias.
According to the news outlets, Maria Shynder’s representatives did not approach them with requests to make clarifications or to post a retraction before filing the lawsuit.
Vasyl Shynder’s activities as a sole proprietor were later covered by other media outlets as well, including 20 Khvylyn. These outlets, however, are not listed as defendants in the case.
