Volyn Online chief editor ordered to retract information from her investigation into Technotorg

The Horokhiv District Court of Volyn oblast sided with the group of companies Technotorg in their lawsuit against Volyn Online chief editor Maryana Metelska, ordering her to refute ten points from her investigation “'Leftover' Russian spare details available for sale: a company affiliated with the aggressor operates near Lutsk”. She will appeal the decision.

The journalist announced the court’s ruling in a Facebook post on July 2 and elaborated to the Institute of Mass Information's Valentyna Troyan.

Metelska says that the excerpts subject to retraction include a statement that Russia and Belarus were under sanctions in 2022. This statement, according to Metelska, was the basis for part of the plaintiffs' claims.

Metelska stressed that she only used open sources in the article, such as court registers, YouControl data, and public court rulings. According to her, the plaintiffs objected to her quoting these documents.

According to the court ruling, she must pay 50 thousand hryvnias of compensation despite the plaintiffs demanding 750 thousand hryvnias. She must also pay the legal fees: approximately 6 thousand hryvnias.

“We are preparing an appeal,” Metelska wrote.

In a comment to IMI, Mariana Metelska clarified that Technotorg had made no attempts to contact her: neither after the investigation was released nor during the long litigation.

“No, they did not reach out, if you mean the time after the article and the years while the trial was ongoing. And not now, either,” she said.

Metelska says she contacted the company for a comment while working on the investigation, but received no response. The media outlet disclaimed that they were open to communication. However, the company sued immediately after the investigation was released, demanding a retraction and compensation of 750 thousand hryvnias.

“What is this then, if not pressure, if they are trying to ban quoting real court rulings and reporting on facts from open sources? This is intimidation of journalists with lawsuits so that no one writes about Technotorg,” Metelska said.

According to her, the court satisfied all 10 points of the claim, but reduced the sum of compensation to 50 thousand hryvnias.

In August 2023, the group of companies Technotorg sued Volyn Online chief editor Maryana Metelska for investigating the activities of the enterprises. As Metelska then told the IMI, five Technotorg companies were suing her, seeking the reported information to be declared unreliable and defamatory. The plaintiffs demanded that Metelska disavow it and pay UAH 750,000 in moral damages.