War correspondent Anna Kaliuzhna received over 150 abusive messages after a post criticising the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Kaliuzhna reported in a Facebook post on 6 March.
The journalist said she had received more than 150 private texts over the cours of the night and half a day. Most of them contained insults and degrading comments about her journalistic work. Kaliuzhna added that the messages were mostly coming from empty or private accounts.
Most of the senders called themselves “225 servicemen” (probably referring to the assault regiment No. 225. – Ed.). Anna Kaliuzhna observed that most comments were misogynistic, including messages such as “go make me a sandwich” or “off to the kitchen.”
Some also questioned her professionalism, writing, “Do you even know how to work?” or “You weren’t here with us.”
Kaliuzhna added that some of the messages were identical in content, which may indicate that they were a coordinated effort.
“It is telling that after the assault brigade No. 3 incident making threats is no longer recommended, you see. Just pressure. I am attaching the harshest one,” the journalist added.
Anna Kaliuzhna believes the abuse was triggered by her post criticising the UAF Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and casting doubt on the legality of the assault regiment No. 225 expansion.
The journalist also cited numerous complaints of mistreatment of servicemembers, which had been previously publicly reported by the military commissioner Olha Reshetylova.
Kaliuzhna said in a comment to Detector Media that she had not yet recorded any direct threats, but many messages degraded her professional experience and accused her of “working for the enemy”. The journalist stressed that the post mainly cited public information that had been reported by various media outlets before.
The criticism in the post was primarily directed the unit command and not its servicemembers. Kaliuzhna added that none of the Regiment No. 225 servicement whom she knew had texted her personally.
The journalist views the situation as an attempt to pressure and intimidate her. She is tracking all the messages and plans to consult with lawyers about possibly contacting the police.
The communications team of the assault regiment No. 225 told Detector Media that the unit’s command had given no orders to respond to the journalist’s post. They said that they had not taken any action in response to what they called a “smear campaign” targeting the unit.
The regiment added that they were willing to check the reports of potentially offensive messages if a corresponding appeal with evidence is submitted.
On 19 June 2024, war correspondent Anna Kaliuzhna said she had received death threats to herself and her parents. According to the war reporter, the threats were made after a conflict with an Assault Brigade No. 3 battalion commander Dmytro Kukharchuk. The police later opened an investigation into the incident.