Gwara Media journalist Anna Veklych had an argument with Kharkiv City Council official Bohdan Hladkykh at the site of a recent Russian strike at Epicenter (home improvement store) in Kharkiv on 27 August. The journalist says that the official obstructed her work and that the incident led to her having a nervous breakdown, chief editor Serhiy Prokopenko and journalist Anna Veklych reported toYuliya Napolska, the Institute of Mass Information’s regional representative.
Russian forces struck the Epicenter store in Kharkiv with a drone on 27 August. Reporters arrived at the scene to document the aftermath of the attack.
Anna Veklych says that Bohdan Hladkykh, head of Kharkiv City Council’s Emergency Situations Department, tried to shoo her away with his hands.
“I was just standing nearby, watching what was happening. There was another woman standing near Hladkykh too. That’s when we learned that there was a man in the ambulance who had died. When Bohdan Hladkykh saw me standing there, he actually started chasing me out, saying, ‘Get away from here. We’re discussing important information here, and you’re going to go and write about it. It will go straight to the media.’ I started responding to him, saying, well, I’d approached you normally, calmly. He kept saying, ‘Get away.’ So I got away,” Veklych recounted.
Anna felt unwell after this, and paramedics came over and offered her help in the ambulance.
“I felt unwell, I got hysterical, to put it bluntly. I struggled to breathe, I was crying. A doctor immediately came up behind me and said, ‘You need help.’ I said, ‘Yes.’ I realised I couldn’t breathe,” Anna recounted.
The paramedics gave the journalist some pills, checked her blood pressure and oxygen levels. Veklych says that her blood pressure was up and her oxygen levels were low. Anna signed the paperwork, but refused to be hospitalised
Gwara Media chief editor Serhiy Prokopenko described the situation as obstruction of lawful reporting, saying he had filed a police report to that effect that same evening. He and Anna were later interviewed by a team of investigators.
The official’s comment
In comments to IMI’s representative, Bohdan Hladkykh confirmed that a Gwara reporter had approached him and asked him to comment on the situation, but he had refused.
Hladkykh says that at that point the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police, and the Kharkiv Prosecutor’s Office had no coordinated position as to whether they would even be commenting on the aftermath of the strike at all.
“On top of that, there was a risk of a double-tap strike, since a Shahed was heading towards Lozova. We understood a second hit could happen. That’s why I said I wouldn’t give comments. I did not give a single comment to anyone about yesterday’s situation, by the way. It was collectively decided that the oblast prosecutor’s office would comment on it, and that’s what happened,” Hladkykh added.
The official added that he had later noticed Anna standing nearby as he was conversing with the district administration officials and the Epicenter manager, and asked her to step back so they could talk privately. She stepped back, and they continued.
“By that evening, I found out that Gwara Media had filed a police report against me over alleged obstruction of lawful reporting. I provided the relevant explanations. I honestly don’t understand why the situation ended up this way, because no one was rude to her or obstructed her work in any way. I’d like to point out that all the journalists who were at the scene, including those with Gwara Media, were able to film all the material they needed and release it,” Bohdan Hladkykh said.
The official also noted that, under the regulations governing the City Council’s Emergency Situations Department, the department director’s duties do not include talking with the media.
“So when I’m able to comment and it’s safe to do so, I do, of course, comment. But when it comes to matters related to safety, strikes, or military developments, we obviously don’t comment on those,” he concluded.
Earlier, IMI reported that Kharkiv journalists have been increasingly facing obstruction on shelling sites.
