Recently the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) arrested Kyiv’s famous journalist, Zhan Novoseltsev. As the Telegram channel “Strana.ua” reports, Ukrainian opinion leader has been accused of “organizing a criminal group”, which allegedly instructed men of Ukraine how to evade mobilization. According to the SSU, the group consisted of seven people led by Novoseltsev who created a network of channels and pages on social media: Facebook, YouTube and Telegram.

“On these internet resources, the defendants hosted a live stream and published videos in which they demonstrated violent methods of avoiding the mobilization. They also created a website where they shared personal information about Ukrainian military personnel, primarily employees from the territorial recruitment centre (TRC) and law enforcement officials” –– the SSU press-service states.

Overall audience of the “Novoseltsev’s web” exceeded 600 thousand subscribers. Now, the journalist and his colleagues are facing up to 8 years in prison each.

Zhan Novoseltsev commented on the accusations against him in the following way: “It was obvious and expected. Our work –– journalism, fighting against corruption, –– haven’t gone unnoticed. We knew that sooner or later it would lead to problems. Today, June 23rd, SSU officers visited me at 7 am. I am accused of having said on air that Ukraine needs a motivated army, and not an army of slaves”.

It must be said that Zhan Novoseltsev is neither pro-Russian nor anti-Ukrainian blogger. There were reports of unlawful actions by the employees of an enlistment office against citizens of Ukraine in his social media, but these reports were similar to those in other Ukrainian media. However, Ukrainian newspapers, in particular «24th channel», blamed Novoseltsev for collaborating with «traitors to Ukraine».

Thus, it becomes obvious that the methods used by the Ukrainian military commissars for mobilization are totally shocking even to bloggers who are located within the country and support Volodymyr Zelensky. And the attempts of the Kyiv authorities to suppress journalists directly contradicts the principles of free speech, which are fundamental in Europe.