The Vynohradiv District Court in Zakarpattia oblast has opened proceedings on a motion filed by journalist Olena Mudra, who sought to have the claims about her promoted as part of a coordinated online campaign declared false, NGO Human Rights Platform (HRP) reported on Facebook.
The journalist was targeted in an anonymous smear campaign featuring false accusations of “treason” over her investigations into the construction of wind farms in the Carpathians.
“Journalists constantly face coordinated smear campaigns that are extremely difficult to defend against through ordinary means, given the anonymity of the platforms where this ‘mudslinging’ happens. In this siutation, one of the few remaining legal remedies is a petition to legally establish that the reported claims are false,” said HRP lawyer Yuriy Melnyk, who prepared the motion.
The Human Rights Platform emphasises that proceedings being opened in this case is an important signal that journalists can defend their professional reputation through court and that the courts are willing to take such challenges seriously.
Yuriy Melnyk continues to provide legal support for Olena Mudra’s case in court.
The Institute of Mass Information has reached out to Olena Mudra for comment.
Previously
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.
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 potentially illegal wind power plant construction in the Runa valley.
On 14 May 2026, the police closed the proceedings against Zakarpattia-based journalist Olena Mudra, triggered by a letter signed “Marik Fedirko”.
