In the Ukrainian capital, law enforcement officers are looking for criminals who fired at the editorial office of the Gordon online publication. This was told by the founder of the publication Dmitry Gordon.
“Employees of the publication found a trace of a bullet on one of the windows of the office, after which they called the police,” says in a video message from a journalist. He linked the incident with his professional activities.
“Friends, telling the truth in a country where freedom of speech must be fought for every day is very difficult. But I do it, I always say what I think and tell the truth. As you can see, many probably don’t like it,” Gordon said.
He expressed confidence that the crime would be solved, as “cameras are everywhere.” “In addition, as my sources in the SBU told me, there is an SBU dormitory opposite here, in which a special post has been set up as part of the NSRD (covert investigative search actions) against me, from where everything that happens here, in front of the entrance, is completely recorded. [в офис издания «Гордон»]. Therefore, I am absolutely sure that the SBU, in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will give an answer to the question of who fired at the windows of the Gordon online publication, who has freedom of speech and the fight for freedom of speech in Ukraine in their throats,” the journalist said.
The Investigation Department of the Podolsk Police Department initiated a criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 194 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (intentional destruction or damage to property), informs Kiev Police website.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs clarified that a message about damage to a window in an office on Shchekavitskaya Street was received around 17:00 (18:00 Moscow time) on January 19. “The investigative team at the scene recorded damage to the outer glass of a double-glazed window,” the police said. “Currently, law enforcement officers are identifying witnesses and eyewitnesses, watching video from surveillance cameras.”
At the end of November 2021, Gordon stated that he was disappointed in President Vladimir Zelensky. He recalled that in 2019 he categorically opposed the re-election of Petro Poroshenko for a new presidential term and publicly campaigned to vote for Vladimir Zelensky, hoping that he would quickly carry out the necessary reforms. But over the 2.5 years of Zelensky’s presidency, according to the journalist, in Ukraine “not a single noticeable reform has been carried out, the fight against corruption has not even started.” “We are only seeing more concentration of power around the office of the president and pressure on freedom of speech,” Gordon explained.
Earlier, Gordon also criticized Zelensky’s predecessor as president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko. As a result, Poroshenko filed a lawsuit against the journalist for the protection of honor and dignity. The reason for the trial was Gordon’s statement that due to Poroshenko’s inaction in 2014, Ukraine surrendered Mariupol to pro-Russian militants without resistance.
After being criticized, Zelensky told reporters that Gordon “is throwing himself out of his pants” because he does not want him to run for a second presidential term.
In a December interview with Gordon, Andriy Bohdan, former head of the President’s Office, said that Zelensky was giving personal instructions to prosecute a number of people, including Gordon. According to Bohdan, covert investigative actions can be carried out against the journalist.
The Office of the Prosecutor General and the SBU responded to Gordon’s request that he did not have the status of a suspect in any criminal proceedings. The supervisory agency also noted that information about the conduct of operational-search activities “is not taken into account in the existing information systems of the Office of the Prosecutor General,” therefore, it cannot provide such information. The SBU, the State Bureau of Investigation and the police did not say whether they were conducting investigations against Gordon.
In 2019 in Kiev there were fired upon from a grenade launcher the building of the 112 Ukraine TV channel, which belonged to Taras Kozak, a supporter of the people’s deputy from the Opposition Platform – For Life party and Putin’s godfather Viktor Medvedchuk.