A KIAA spokesperson threatened to “break the journalist’s f*ck” because of a publication about his father. The official responded
5 May 2025 22:06
The spokesperson for the Kyiv City Military Administration, Yevhen Ievlev, threatened a journalist for Free Radio who prepared a story about the property declaration of his father, an employee of the Pokrovske TCC.
The information about the incident was widely publicized on Monday, May 5, according to “Free Radio“.
Threats against journalist Yevhen Vakulenko were made after the publication of a journalistic investigation concerning the Ievlev family.
What preceded it
In early May, the media outlet “Free Radio” published a story analyzing the property declarations of employees of the territorial recruitment and social support centers in Donetsk Oblast for the previous year. One of the persons involved in the investigation was Serhiy Ievlev, a serviceman at the Pokrovsk District Recruiting and Social Support Center.
According to the published declaration, his wife owns a 2011 Toyota Land Cruiser worth UAH 773,000, while no official income is indicated in the documents. After the publication, according to the journalist, Serhiy Ievlev’s son, a spokesman for the Kyiv City Military Administration, contacted him via Facebook.
The official sent journalist Yevhen Vakulenko threats of physical violence. He accused the author of allegedly spreading false information.
Details of the scandal
In early May 2025, Vakulenko published an investigation into the income and property status of officials of the territorial recruitment centers of Donetsk Oblast in 2024, using data from the Unified State Register of Declarations. In particular, the article mentions Serhiy Ievlev, a serviceman of the Pokrovsk District Recruiting Center and JV, the father of the KMVA spokesperson. According to the submitted declarations, Ievlev’s wife, Svitlana, owns a 2011 Toyota Land Cruiser valued at UAH 773,000, although no official income is indicated in the documents.
“We sent information requests to all the TCCs in Donetsk region where the persons involved in the investigation work, asking them to explain the origin of the property. The only center that did not respond was Pokrovsky. We waited for the statutory period of more than 5 working days and then published the material,” explained journalist Vakulenko.
After the investigation was published, Yevhen Ievlev joined the journalist on Facebook.
“He left a comment under another of my posts asking me to write to him privately. I replied, and in the first message I received a long text from him with insults, accusations of pro-Russian views and direct threats of physical violence,” the journalist says.
In his message, Ievlev, in particular, threatened to “break Vakulenko’s f*ck” in person, called him “an enemy of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” and accused him of spreading “trash content.”
According to the journalist, after receiving the threats, he turned to Yevhen Ievlev with a proposal to provide an official commentary for Free Radio on his father’s property status. However, Ievlev refused, responding with accusations against the journalist, reducing his request to an alleged attempt to “formally save face” and questioning his professional competence.
Ievlev reacted to the incident: he admits guilt
[Kommersant contacted Yevgeniy Ievlev, a spokesman for the KMBA, for an exclusive comment.
According to the official, the last 11 years have been difficult for Ievlev’s family: since 2014, part of his homeland, Donetsk region, has been under occupation. And his father stood up to defend Ukraine to stop Russian aggression. On February 26, 2022, Ievlev joined him.
He also noted that he had been performing combat missions in the East for almost three years, and his father, despite his age, still serves in the Pokrovske TCC and JV – in the territory that is actually frontline.
“These days, journalists of one of the media outlets published a story in which they questioned the declaration of my parents’ family. And I allowed myself emotions towards the author of this material, because I believe that the article is manipulative and emotionally colored. And this does not coincide with journalistic standards,” – commented Ievlev, adding that such publications, in his opinion, only harm and hurt.
Ievlev acknowledged that he should have acted differently as a spokesperson, but he also emphasized his right to defend his family.
“The task of a spokesperson is to extinguish conflicts, reduce misunderstandings, and resolve problematic issues. Today, I failed to fulfill this task, I betrayed the Armed Forces, KMVA and my boss Timur Tkachenko. However, as a decent son, I have the right and will defend my parents from attempts to insult their honor and dignity ,” adds the KIAA spokesman.
Finally, Mr. Ievlev called for a constructive dialog in the media community.
“I am fully in favor of constructive dialogue in the media and hope for understanding. As a citizen, I have the right to emotions,” Ievlev said.
What do they say at Free Radio?
The editorial board of Free Radio considers Yevhen Ievlev’s actions to be an attempt to put pressure on journalists and regards his statements as obstruction of legitimate professional activity.
“We realize that the topic is complex and sensitive. There are indeed questions in the material to which we have not received answers, although we have sent inquiries to the relevant institutions. Corruption risks in this area are real, which is why we turned to open declarations,” explained Anna Serdyuk, editor-in-chief of Free Radio.
She emphasized that the editorial board had given all the persons involved in the article the opportunity to provide explanations in order to balance the material, if necessary, but no responses were received. Regarding Ievlev’s reaction, Serdyuk said:
“We can understand the emotionality in response to the publication. But the level of threats that were made requires a public reaction, because it is an official in the structure of state power. I would like this to encourage officials to be more careful in filling out their declarations so that such issues do not arise again,” the media say.
