MP Dubnevych's daughter, son-in-law demand NGL.media remove mentions of them from their website

Mykhailo Pyrtko, the son-in-law of MP Yaroslav Dubnevych, is suing the news outlet NGL.media, demanding his name and that of of his wife, Roksolana Pyrtko, who is listed as a third party in the lawsuit, be removed from their articles. The Pyrtkos are also seeking the removal of all references and photos of their activities and property, as well as a ban on publishing any information about them in the future, the media outlet reports.

NGL.media says that the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv has opened proceedings on Mykhailo Pyrtko's lawsuit on June 25.

The lawsuit was triggered by an investigation into Roksolana Pyrtko's apartment in the UAE worth 1.2 million euros, released in February 2025. The authors of the investigation, NGL.media's Oleksandra Hubytska and Slidstvo.Info's Yanina Korniyenko, are co-defendants in the case: Mykhailo Pyrtko seeks 10 thousand UAH in moral damages from them.

The plaintiff requests that the court order the editorial board to take down the entire article and declare the headline, the mentions of Yaroslav Dubnevych being on the international wanted list, of his status as a defendant in two criminal investigations, and of his escape from Ukraine as unreliable information.

“It is noteworthy that the Pyrtkos' interests in this case are represented by attorney Volodymyr Bohatyr, who was the Deputy Minister of Justice in 2007–2011 and is now, along with Viktor Yanukovych, a defendant in a case under Article 109 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: “Actions aimed at forceful change or overthrow of the constitutional order or take-over of government.” The website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs indicates that he has been wanted since 2017. Yet, Volodymyr Bohatyr continues to work as a lawyer, representing his clients via video calls”, the editorial team pointed out.

The NGL.media team also noted that Volodymyr Bohatyr claims that he has been abroad since July 14, 2017, on a “legal long-term business trip.”

NGL.media does not intend to take down any mentions of Mykhailo and Roksolana Pyrtko and will defend their right to freedom of speech in accordance with the law.

“The disclosure of the plaintiffs’ data is lawful in this case, because it concerns issues of public interest. Roksolana Pyrtko is the daughter of Yaroslav Dubnevych, a member of parliament and a defendant in high-profile criminal cases, so the public interest in her activities is justified by her father’s status as a public figure. This is a SLAPP lawsuit aimed to silence the journalists,” explains NGL.media lawyer Yevhen Vorobyov.

Previously, Oleksandr Hovorushchak, head of the first department of the SBI Department for Pre-Trial Investigation of Criminal Offenses Committed by Law Enforcement Officers and Judges, sued Slidstvo.Info journalists over an investigation into his relatives acquiring UAH 35 million worth of property.