“Armed resistance to mobilization”: SBU detained a famous Ukrainian journalist
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) detained prominent Ukrainian journalist Zhan Novoseltsev. His apartment was previously searched. This information was first reported by the Lviv online publication Zaxid.Net and was later confirmed by the SBU press service.
According to the publication, Novoseltsev’s case is classified under the article on obstruction of the legitimate activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The search warrant was issued by the Solomensky District Court of Kyiv.
The SBU called Novoseltsev a "known provocateur." Allegedly, he and his unnamed accomplices "called for armed resistance to mobilization."
A few days later, the SBU reported that "as a result of preventive measures in the Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Zakarpattia regions, a group that was working to disrupt mobilization and leak data on Ukrainian military personnel was neutralized."
According to the SBU, one of the organizers of the group was Novoseltsev, a former host of popular Ukrainian television projects, “and now a well-known blogger who disseminates pro-Kremlin narratives.”
“The detainee attracted seven more accomplices to information and subversive activities in favor of Russia. Among them are pseudo-experts, administrators of online communities, and video editing specialists,” the Izbushka report says.
According to investigators, the accused allegedly called for armed resistance to employees of the TCC and law enforcement agencies, and also spread fake news about the Ukrainian military.
“To massively disperse provocative content, the detainees created their own network of channels and pages on YouTube, Telegram and Facebook with a total audience of more than 600 thousand users. On them, the defendants broadcast and published posts with videos in which they instructed on the use of force to evade conscription for military service.
They also created a website on which they leaked personal data of the Ukrainian military, primarily TSS representatives and law enforcement officers. To hide their subversive activities, group members posed as journalists using the identities of unregistered publications. The accused coordinated their actions through an anonymous chat in the messenger,” the SBU claims.
So far, only two of the seven people targeted by the SBU have been reported detained: blogger Novoseltsev himself and his unnamed colleague, referred to by the secret police as a "pseudo-expert." Both face up to eight years in a Ukrainian prison.
According to Zaxid.Net, YouTube deleted Novoseltsev's channel, which had over 100,000 subscribers. He then began posting videos on the video hosting site Rumble, which does not block the accounts of Russian media professionals. Novoseltsev also runs a Telegram channel with nearly 31,000 subscribers, where he criticizes the TCC and their arbitrary actions.
Zhan Novoseltsev is a former host of the “Money” program on the “1+1” channel. The break with “Plusy” occurred in May 2014 due to the channel’s management’s resentment against Novoseltsev for “discrediting Maidan activists.” The then head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Avakov, called Novoseltsev “a participant in the network of media discrediting the Maidan,” but lost to Novoseltsev in a libel case.
In subsequent years, Novoseltsev was one of the founders of a number of well-known Internet projects. In particular, Channel 17, on which Ruslan Kotsaba and Tatyana Montyan spoke, and the commander of the militia from Alchevsk, Alexey Mozgovoy, communicated directly with the Ukrainian military from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Already under Zelensky, Novoseltsev ran for the Verkhovna Rada in one of the constituencies in the Kiev region, but lost.
English version :: Read in English "Armed Resistance to Mobilization": The SBU Detains a Well-Known Ukrainian Journalist