The international watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has called on on the Ukrainian authorities to conduct an independent and thorough inquiry into the case of Zakarpattia-based journalist Olena Mudra, the organisation reports.
RSF said that nearly eight months after Mudra filed a complaint for obstruction of her work, those responsible for the smear campaign targeting her still have not been identified.
The organisation remarked that revelations published by NGL.media and corroborated by RSF raised questions about the quality of the police investigation.
In a comment to RSF, Olena Mudra said that she felt that the police didn’t want to cooperate in this case, neither with her nor with her lawyer.
From the investigation released by NGL.media on 24 February 2026, Olena Mudra learned that a fraud case had been opened last July against her and environmentalist Oksana Stankevych-Volosyanchuk. The journalist had not been informed of the proceedings against her even though she had been summoned to the police to give evidence. The case was triggered by a letter from someone calling themselves “Marik Fedirko” — a person who, NGL.media learned, likely does not exist. The name is also linked to a fake Facebook profile that helped spread fake videos targeting Olena Mudra. In one of these videos, a character bearing the same name appears to have been generated by artificial intelligence, according to RSF analysis.
“The investigation into the smear campaign targeting Olena Mudra has made no visible progress, despite the fact it’s delivery of meaningful results is vital. The lack of headway in the investigation into the defamation campaign against her contrasts with the speed with which criminal proceedings were brought against her on the basis of anonymous, unsubstantiated allegations, according to information published by the Ukrainian investigative outlet NGL.media and corroborated by RSF. RSF calls on the Ukrainian police to carry out a rigorous and independent investigation,” said Pauline Maufrais, RSF’s Regional Officer for Ukraine.
Previously
On 24 February 2026, NGL.media team collected clues that could lead to the persons responsible for the large-scale smear campaign targeting the Zakarpattia-based investigative journalist Olena Mudra, who reported on the dubious wind power plant construction in the Runa valley.
On 9 June 2025, Zakarpattia-based investigator journalist Olena Mudra said she was being targeted in a smear campaign in the media. She believes the campaign was triggered by her reporting. She said that several disreputable media outlets had published a deceptive article with false information about her sources of income (alleging she works for Russia and Russian money) and her family.
Olena believes that these incidents are connected with her investigations into the work of LLC Wind Parks Ukraine in Zakarpattia oblast.
Olena Mudra filed a police statement on obstruction of her lawful reporting and violation of her privacy on 27 June 2025. The data was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations (URPTI) on the following day, 28 June.
