Ukrainian Pravda to paywall part of their content starting October

The news outlet Ukrainska Pravda (UP) plans to introduce paid access to some of its content starting October 2025. According to chief editor Sevgil Musaieva, the team was prompted to take this step by the significant financial losses caused by political pressure by the President's Office, Musaieva tells The Times.

Photo by Ukrainian Pravda

According to Musaieva, Ukrainska Pravda’s advertising revenue has plummeted because the presidential administration has asked companies to pull support for events run by the site. It may have to introduce a paywall for readers in October.

"Six of Ukraine’s largest businesses had telephoned the media outlet’s advertising sales department to withdraw from longstanding sponsorship arrangements, explaining they had been warned off by the presidential administration. For example, we lost two to three sponsors for one monthly event, that’s $20,000 per month over the past year, a total of $240,000 from those companies alone," Musaieva said.

She added that the presidential office had barred officials from speaking to her staff, saying that when they did they were called and dressed down by the president’s communications adviser, Dmytro Lytvyn.

Lytvyn denied the allegations. “This outlet has repeatedly published baseless accusations against me personally, claiming that I allegedly call mayors, advertisers, or otherwise interfere with their lives,” he said.

Ukrainska Pravda, which turned 25 this year, frequently publishes in-depth investigations into corruption and recently covered the NABU's investigation into Oleksiy Chernyshov, the former deputy prime minister — whose wife is reported by Radio NV to be a close friend of Olena Zelenska.

Musayeva also said that since June, when they published the Chernyshov investigation, staff had also been refused attendance at off-record briefings by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including by commander-in-chief General Syrskyi.

According to The Times, the presidential office has developed a plan to sanction the Ukrainska Pravda’s owner, Dragon Capital, which could force it into a hostile takeover by allies of the president due to lack of funds. Musayeva did not wish to comment on the allegations.

“This issue is at the forefront of people’s minds, on everyone’s screens,” said a diplomat from one of the G7 embassies in Kyiv. “Talks [warning about Ukraine’s move to sanction Dragon Capital] are happening now behind closed doors.”

Tomas Fiala, the chief executive of Dragon Capital, claimed the Zelenskyi government had reacted negatively to the outlet’s critical reporting for years, although did not give specific examples. Fiala also did not wish to comment on the allegations that Ukraine was planning to sanction him.

“When UP has some exclusive investigation, or covers a corruption story like was the case with deputy prime minister Chernyshov, it triggers an emotional reaction. Unfortunately there are some tendencies from the top of the authorities against freedom of speech. They are using different methods to constrain freedom of speech for the publications that represent independent media,” said Fiala.

The Institute of Mass Information has reached out to Sevgil Musaieva for comment regarding the paywall introduction.

Previously

On October 8, 2024, the Institute of Mass Information released a blitz-interview with Ukrainska Pravda's Sevgil Musaieva, who reported that the presidential administration was calling advertisers and asking them not to advertise their products in the UP.

On October 9, 2024, the UP reporterd continued systemic pressure on the media outlet and some journalists by the President's Office.

On October 10, 2024, the UP reported that the President's communications advisor Dmytro Lytvyn was discouraging people from talking with their journalists, giving interviews, or participating in events by the media outlet.

On October 10, 2024, the Media Movement called on Volodymyr Zelenskyi to immediately take action to stop pressure on the media from any civil servants or advisors.

On the same day, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, asked the National Police and the Prosecutor General's Office to verify the threats to Ukrainska Pravda by the President's Office.

Lytvyn has responded to the allegations saying that he did not want to “play these games” because “this story is very vague” and thus “refuting it in any meaningful way is impossible.”