SBU uses military registration and enlistment office as revenge against journalist for corruption investigation
The Security Service of Ukraine may have used the services of a military registration and enlistment office (MAC) to serve a summons to Slidstvo.info journalist Yevhen Shulhat, who was investigating the head of the SBU’s cybersecurity department, Ilya Vityuk, and his luxury property. The journalist, who recently turned 27 and allegedly failed to appear at the TEC to update his data, was subjected to an attempt to serve a summons from Solomyansky TEC staff on April 1 at 21.15 in another district that does not belong to the specified TEC. The incident, which was captured on camera, raised questions about the connection between this action and his journalistic work.
This was reported by Slidstvo.info.
The surveillance video showed the journalist entering the supermarket being approached by TCC employees at the direction of a person in civilian clothes, who was probably giving them instructions. This person in civilian clothes, who was actively gesticulating, left the place before the military addressed Shulhat.
The representatives of the TCC involved in this operation were identified. They refused to comment on their involvement in the events or to identify the person in civilian clothes. However, according to journalists, it could have been Oleksiy Volodymyrovych Bilenko, a person closely associated with Ilya Vityuk and an employee of the SBU cybersecurity department.
Preliminary investigations by Slidstvo.info revealed that Vityuk’s family owns real estate worth far more than his official income. It was found that Vityuk’s wife owns an apartment in an elite residential complex, which can cost almost $1.5 million, while the price indicated in the declaration is almost half the market price. Ilya Vitiuk promised to comment on this issue later.
“Slidstvo.Info plans to submit all the evidence it has collected to law enforcement agencies, including a statement on harassment and obstruction of journalistic activity, pointing to the seriousness of the allegations and the potential conflict of interest between state institutions and press freedom.
Recently, the Ukrainian authorities have been using the TCC as a repressive body against “inconvenient” people. After all, there is mobilization in the country, and if a person mobilized in this way accidentally “disappears” or dies on the front line, this is a “legal” way for the Ukrainian authorities to get rid of the “problem”. Also, total censorship has been introduced in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Currently, the events at the front are not disclosed anywhere and by anyone, except for individual volunteer battalions. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are subject to severe reprisals if anyone is suspected of even the slightest connection with the press. As a reminder, the US State Department advises Zelensky to be more open with the people and allies about war coverage
