KYIV -- Well-known Ukrainian investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov, whose recent report revealed possible mass corruption among top officials at the Defense Ministry, has linked a recent incident at his apartment, when unknown men tried to force their way into his home, with his reports critical of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his government.
Only Nikolov's mother was home when unknown men attempted to break into his apartment over the weekend. The men demanded the door be opened while cursing loudly and screaming that Nikolov should serve in the Ukrainian armed forces.
Soon afterward, the Kartochny Ofis (A Card Office) Telegram channel posted a video showing several men standing next to the door of Nikolov's apartment, demanding him to open the door and calling him "provocateur" and "traitor."
The caption for the video said military officers came to "one well-known journalist" to hand him a written order from the military recruitment center to enlist in the Ukrainian armed forces fighting Russia's ongoing invasion.
The text claimed that Nikolov "for many years was fed by a Russian businessman of Armenian origin," fled Kyiv after Moscow started its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and returned to Kyiv later "as if nothing happened."
Nikolov, the editor and founder of the Nashi Hroshi (Our Money) investigative project, said in an interview with RFE/RL that those involved don't understand what they did with this "provocation."
"In just a single move, they further cemented the suggestion that this is the current government's response to my criticism of the president. This is simply terrifying, because these people show the West that it is possible in Ukraine to impose pressure on a person who criticizes the president," he said.
Nikolov added that the visitors, who did not look like military personnel, did not leave any written summons or official documents ordering him to show up at a military recruitment center, but posted handwritten leaflets calling on him to serve in the army and insulting him.
Some anticorruption activists have accused Ukrainian authorities, including the presidential office, of using anonymous Telegram channels "to fight their critics."
Dariya Zarivna, senior adviser to the presidential administration's chief, however, denied any connection of the presidential office with the Kartochny Ofis Telegram channel.
"I can certainly say the following: Do not associate this anonymous Telegram channel or any other with the presidential office. This does not correspond to the real situation," Zarivna told RFE/RL.
Nikolov told RFE/RL that he has filed an official complaint with police.
"They told me that the Prosecutor General's Office promised to take the case under its control. As of now, I see the normal work of law enforcement officers, they are doing their job," Nikolov said.
Kyiv police said preliminary investigations were launched into "imposing threats on a journalist."