The Chernivtsi oblast police have declined a request by independent journalist Diana Lavryk, who was physically injured while covering the conflict related to the St. Nicholas Church in Verkhni Stanivtsi village switching from the Moscow Patriarchate to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, to reclassify the case regarding the attack. The journalist is appealing the refusal in court, Diana Lavryk reports to Alyona Chorna, the regional Institute of Mass Information representative.
Lavryk says that the investigation department of the Vyzhnytsia district police of Chernivtsi oblast refused to grant her request. The journalist said that following the attack on her, investigators had opened a case under Part 1 of Article 125 (“Intended minor bodily injury”) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
“I disagreed with this decision and filed a petition to the Vyzhnytsia District Prosecutor’s Office and the Vyzhnytsia District Police Department Chief to reclassify it as Part 2 of Article 345-1 [“Threats or violence against a journalist”] instead of Part 1 of Article 125. However, I was refused. After that, I filed a complaint with the Vyzhnytsia District Court of Chernivtsi oblast and am currently waiting for the court’s response,” Lavryk said.
The resolution on the refusal states that a study of the case material found no grounds for a reclassification since the attacker was unaware that Lavryk was a journalist.
Journalist Diana Lavryk was injured while covering the conflict around the St. Nicholas Church in Verkhni Stanivtsi village (Chernivtsi oblast) switching from the Moscow Patriarchate to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine on 8 April 2025. The police opened a case under the article on “Hooliganism” following the incident.