"Trukha" and "Ukraina Seychas" were the only Telegram channels accredited for Zelensky's press conference, says the PO

Only two Telegram channels – "Trukha" and "Ukraina Seychas" – were accredited for President Volodymyr Zelensky's press conference on December 19, according to the reply by President's Office press service to a request from "Detector Media".

"In response to your request, we inform you that only two Telegram channels, 'Trukha' and 'Ukraine Seyach', were accredited for the December 19, 2023 press conference with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky; representatives of these channels applied for accreditation and submitted all documents required by the terms of accreditation. No other Telegram channels were accredited," reads the letter from the President's Office press service.

As reported earlier, "Trukha Ukraine", "Vertykal" and "Ukraine Now" reported that they had been accredited for Zelensky's press conference. "Vertykal" and "Joker" (both thought to be affiliated with the President's Office staff) write that there will be "a lot of shocking information" and "important insights" at the press conference.

Maksym Lavrynenko from "Trukha", was present at the press conference, and "Vertykal" and "Joker" posted photos from the sidelines of the event, presenting it as if their representatives were also there.

The very next day, "Vertykal" reported that the photos and videos from the president's press conference were published "as a prank", and in reality their representatives did not attend the event. The channel's post said that they deliberately organized this "prank" to wait for the reaction of media workers, who would be outraged by the very fact that anonymous Telegram channels were accredited.

Afterwards, Volodymyr Zelensky's press secretary Serhiy Nikiforov said that anonymous Telegram channels were not accredited for the President's press conference.

On October 16, 2023, the President's Office organized a closed meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and the editors of several Ukrainian media outlets, where "Trukha" was invited. The invitation to the anonymous Telegram channel caused outrage in parts of the media community.