Journalist Olena Mudra contacts police, requests security

Zakarpattia-based journalist, investigator Olena Mudra has filed a police statement on obstruction of her lawful reporting and violation of her privacy, Olena Mudra reports to the Institute of Mass Information.

Olena filed the statement with the Uzhhorod District Police Department of the Zakarpattia Oblast Police HQ on June 27. The data was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations (URPTI) on the following day, June 28.

“I filed a statement on criminal offenses under Articles 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstruction of lawful reporting) and 182 (violation of privacy),” Olena said.

Olena Mudra. Photo by the IRPD

She says that the chief of the oblast's National Police HQ, Yaroslav Kolesnyk, later called her and notified her that the information on the two facts described in her statement had been entered into the URPTI.

In the statement, Olena reported a smear campaign targeting her in various media outlets.

Namely, Olena says, articles published on the dubious websites From-UA and Bahnet and later reposted by similar websites on June 2, 7, 12, and 23, alleged she was “cooperating with the FSB,” “working for the Kremlin,” “sabotaging Ukraine’s energy independence,” “a member of a faux environmentalists syndicate,” “hampering the development of green energy in Zakarpattia,” etc.

The articles also featured her personal data and mentions of her family members.

Olena was also told that she might be physically harmed if she does not cease her investigations into LLC Wind Parks Ukraine, so she asked the police for security.

“Given the active smear campaign against me, as well as the fact that I continue my reporting, in particular on topics related to the construction of wind farms in Zakarpattia, I could not ignore these messages and filed a statement with the law enforcement agencies, requesting that security measures be applied to me,” the journalist said.

Previously

On June 9, 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.

In May 2023, Olena Mudra reported doxxing and pressure related to her reporting. The pressure began following her article about staff changes at the State Environmental Inspection in Zakarpattia oblast, which was published in Zakarpattia Online on March 6 under the headline "Former head of the Economy Protection Office and heir to an illegal construction project in Bukovel, Mykhailo Bank, is now head of SEI Zakarpattia."

The police responded to Olena's statement by opening a case under Part 2 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Obstruction of legal reporting”).

In September 2023, unknown persons tried to access the Telegram profile of Olena Mudra, an investigator journalist from Zakarpattia, twice. She believes this has to do with her reporting.