The Podilskyi District Council of Poltava did not support the decision to dismiss the Council’s deputy chair Serhiy Boyko, previously convicted of death threats to Poltavska Khvylia journalist Anastasia Matsko, on 16 June, the news outlet reported.
Anastasia Matsko confirmed the reports in a comment to Nadia Kucher, the regional Institute of Mass Information representative.
The vote was secret. 21 of the 34 prepared ballots were handed out. 12 deputies voted for Boyko’s dismissal, three opposed it, and three more abstained. Three ballots were declared invalid and 13 remained blank. The decision was not supported by a sufficient number of votes and Boyko remained in office.
Anastasia Matsko said in her comment to IMI that Boyko had been found guilty by two court rulings and the sentence was in effect. She emphasised that, in her opinion, a person with an outstanding criminal record has no right to hold positions in local government bodies.
“So, if Boyko were in prison, as the law says he should be, would he still hbe in office, would the community continue to pay his salary?” the journalist added.
Anastasia Matsko also believes that some of the officials could have intentionally spoiled the ballots or left them blank. Still, she thanked those who supported the decision to dismiss Boyko, as well as the district council chair, who publicly called the situation absurd and unlawful.
She said that “the failed vote is not the end.”
“I believe in the rule of law, so I will make every effort to ensure that a decision is made in accordance with current legislation. It is fair that a person bears responsibility and is aware of the consequences of committing crimes,” Matsko added.
After the failed vote, Poltavska Dumka reports, the district council chair, Serhiy Bilokin, announced his resignation, saying that he considered the decision unlawful and that any actions he might take as the chair of the district council regarding Boyko would have an element of corruption in this situation. The council will review his resignation next week.
On 28 May 2026, the Poltava Court of Appeal upheld the first instance ruling against the Poltava District Council official Serhiy Boyko, who had been sentenced to a year of probation for death threats and violent threats to Anastasia Matsko.
Previously
On November 15, Poltavska Khvylia journalist Anastasia Matsko filed an appeal against Poltava’s Oktyabrskyi District Court ruling sentencing City Council deputy Serhiy Boyko, who threatened to kill her, to one year’s probation. The journalist demanded three years of imprisonment for the official.
On March 29, 2023, Anastasia Matsko, a journalist at the online publication “Poltava Wave”, has said that district council deputy, Serhiy Boyko, and the head of the welfare inspection, Maksym Malko, threatened her during a City Council session.
The police opened a case for Part 2 of Article 171 (“Obstructing the legal professional work of journalists”) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Later, the journalist’s lawyer, Dmytro Semekha, requested that the Poltava police reclassify the case as threats instead of obstruction. On May 29, Matsko and her lawyer filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General’s Office due to the police’s inaction. Two forensic examinations confirmed that the journalist received death threats, but the work of the prosecutors’ remained insufficient, in her opinion.
On November 7, 2023, the deputy received a suspicion notice under Part 1 of Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (threats or violence against a journalist). The trial began in February 2024. There have been no hearings on the appeal since the first instance court’s ruling.
The Court of Appeal held no hearings in Matsko’s case in a year and a half. The journalist has said that she viewed such actions as an attempt to stall the trial.
On 21 October 2024, the Oktiabrskiy District court of Poltava found district council official Serhiy Boyko guilty of death threats and violent threats to Anastasia Matsko and put him on probation. Matsko appealed the ruling on 15 November 2024, asking for three years in prison for the official.