Lutsk media outlet editor wanted by Russia

Russia has declared the "Konkurent" chief editor Andriy Luchyk, who is also a Lutsk City Council deputy, a wanted person. Luchyk reported this to the IMI representative in the Volyn oblast.

In total, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs included 30 deputies in their wanted persons list, as well as Lutsk Mayor Ihor Polishchuk and the head of urban planning, land resources and advertising, Veniamin Tuz. The list of wanted Volyn officials was reported by the Russian website "Mediazona" on February 13.

In the comment to the representative, Andriy Luchyk clarified that he was added to the list as a Lutsk City Council deputy, and not as a journalist or the "Konkurent" editor. Yet, the reasons for this are unclear.

Russia declares Andriy Luchyk wanted. Photo by Andriy Luchyk on Facebook

"Obviously, some kind of decision was passed. I'm still at a loss at what that could be. I suspect it could be something related to the land owned by the Moscow Patriarchate churches, as they also added the head of urban planning, land resources and advertising, Veniamin Tuz. I don't know how else he could have ended up there. Maybe there was some different decision," said Luchyk.

According to him, he could find no resolution listing the same surnames as in the register.

"There were other deputies who voted for anti-Russian decisions, but for some reason they were not included in this list. Some of the Lutsk Council deputies who were not included in the list of criminals, have been absent at plenary sessions for various reasons: some are on the front line fighting, some are abroad, and some simply did not attend... And these deputies are not on the Russian lists of criminals," said Luchyk.

Screenshot from Andriy Luchyk's Facebook page

The editor-in-chief also noted that "Konkurent" constantly reports on war-related news.

"Of course, we disclose the enemy's losses. We write about various explosions in the occupied territory, we cover frontline developments to an extent, we report on certain events taking place in Russia. That is, no more and no less than other websites do," he said.

As reported by the IMI, in late January 2024, Russia declared the founder of the Gordon website, Dmytro Gordon, a wanted person again.