The Vinnytsia-based media outlet My Vinnychany learned about a lawsuit against them only after the appeals court upheld the first instance court’s ruling. The plaintiff was an SBU officer, Oleh Rudiuk, who demanded UAH 1 million from the journalists for mentioning his name in a news story about the proceedings against Oleksandr Tsarenko, an oblast council deputy from the outlawed party OPFL, the media outlet reported on 22 October.
My Vinnychany journalists reported on two criminal cases featuring the council deputy. According to the investigation, Tsarenko enlisted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces following Russia’s full-scale invastion but de-facto dodged the service, continuing to receive financial assistance. The case, which is currently being tried in the Desnyanskyi District Court of Chernihiv, includes charges of fraud, abuse of office, and evasion of military service. Oleh Rudiuk, who serves in the SBU, is considered by the investigation to be an accomplice and organizer of some of the acts related to the case. According to the case material, he was charged with aiding and abetting, fraud, and abuse of office under martial law.
In the news story he was only mentioned in one sentence. However, this sentence became the basis for Rudiuk’s lawsuit. As reported by My Vinnychany, Rudiuk demanded that the journalists declare the information as misleading, retract it, and pay him 1 million UAH in moral damages.
In May 2025, Rudiuk sued the news outlet in the Vinnytsia City Court. The court initially dismissed the lawsuit because the plaintiff had not paid the court fee and incorrectly justified being exempted from paying one as a combat participant. After that, he submitted an application saying that the shortcomings had been fixed and asked to reset the deadline for the lawsuit submission, but the court refused again: the case did not concern the social protection of veterans, therefore, the fee exemption did not apply.
The court declared the claim unfiled and returned it to the plaintiff, and the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling on 24 September 2025. Rudiuk has since filed a cassation appeal.
The news outlet writes that despite the allegations against them, Oleh Rudiuk never contacted the My Vinnychany office to demand a retraction. Moreover, the team never even received a copy of his statement of claim. The news outlet was unable to state their position in court because the team was unaware that proceedings had been opened against them.
The appeal ruling states that “no response was received from the defendant.” The court assumed that the lawsuit had been sent to them for review. However, the editorial office assures that they received no letters, notifications, or rulings.
The journalists learned about the lawsuit by accident while studying other cases related to the investigation by monitoring the Unified State Register of Court Rulings.
The team is still unsure as to what information Rudiuk considers misleading. They say that the news story only featured facts sourced from official investigation material and no assessments or assumptions by journalists.
Rudiuk’s cassation appeal has not been considered yet. My Vinnychany states that they do not retract any reported facts and are ready to defend their position within the framework of the law.