Lawyer Oleksiy Shevchuk has sued the news outlet NGL.media and is demanding 100 thousand hryvnias in moral damages, NGL.media team reported in a Facebook post.
The lawsuit targets the NGO Lvivska Hrupa (NGL.media’s publisher), accusing it of defamation and demanding that information the news website reported be declared unreliable, retracted, and taken down and moral damage be compensated.
The team says that the lawsuit was triggered by their Facebook post saying that NGL.media was joining a statement by civil society organisations demanding Shevchuk’s withdrawal from the competition commission that is to select candidates for the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office.
“Well, if he wants to go to court, go to court we will. Besides organisational and financial costs, participating in the trial will give us some benefits, too. We will be able to access certain documents that will shed even more light on Shevchuk’s involvement in the abuses of the Shlyakh system and the humanitarian aid embezzled in the first months of the big war. We will definitely share all these findings with you,” NGL.media said.
The total sum demanded in the lawsuit is UAH 112,121.50. Of this, UAH 100,000 is claimed as compensation for moral damage, and UAH 12,121.50 as compensation of court fees.
According to the court’s note, the lawsuit was received on 3 March 2026.
Previously
In January 2026, several civil society organisations and news outlets addressed Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko asking to cancel the appointment of lawyer Oleksiy Shevchuk to the competition commission that will be selecting top officials for the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. They argued that the lawyer did not meet the integrity and reputation requirements outlined by the law. Shevchuk has been repeatedly banned or suspended from practicing law for suspected involvement in schemes to smuggle conscripts abroad, has supported “dictatorial bills”, and has a dubious background in terms of media coverage and political work. The organisations believe that Shevchuk’s involvement undermined the legitimacy of the competition. They demanded that his appointment be cancelled and he be replaced as a member of the commission.
Oleksiy Shevchuk has been featured in multiple articles by NGL.media. Namely, in the investigation into abuses of the Shlyakh system. Journalists found out that most of the organisations adding volunteers to the database had ties to him as a freelance advisor to the head of the Lviv OMA at the time.
Oleksiy Shevchuk was also mentioned in reports about the disappearance of almost 10 thousand tactical first-aid kits supplied to the UAF by the US in Lviv. NGL.media tried to get his comment on the shipment, but their requests were ignored.
The news outlet has also reported on the 19 December 2023 decision by the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of the Bar (QDC) in Kyiv oblast to deprive Shevchuk of the right to practice law due to ethical violations.