Serhiy Lyamets: "Don't threaten the Hungarian while sipping juice in Finestrat." There used to be a legendary film with...

Serhiy Lyamets: "Don't threaten the Hungarian while sipping juice in Finestrat." There used to be a legendary film with a similar title. That's roughly how I wanted to title this longread, in which I dug a bit into who and why is threatening the "Hungarian," why the "Carthage" case stalled, and what cyberpolice chief Yurii Vykhodets might have to do with it.

Let's start with the kompromat market. You are probably a consumer of its "products," and that's normal. As long as you remain on the consumer side, everything looks pretty entertaining. A microscope is put on the subject and certain facts begin to be laid out. Depending on execution, it can be truth or fake, but most often it's a biased view. The bias can be revolutionary, activist, anti-corruption, law-enforcement, etc. From such scrutiny the subject should first feel discomfort, and later draw conclusions and change behavior. If he pretends he understood nothing, the kompromat market has certain know-how to ensure understanding eventually pays a visit to the subject.

This market has its stars, outsiders and marginals, veterans and newcomers. Stars flare up and fade — remember at least the "Joker." Clients change, ways of making money, working technologies, and know-how change. But more or less in all eras the essence remains the same.

Now a specific case. Recently I noticed that a lot of attention is being paid to the NGO "Non-Stop" and its leader, former prosecutor Kyrylo Yakovets.

https://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/zliv-danih-rodichiv-viyskovih-i-shantazh-1790332490.html

He creatively used his professional experience: he added procedural pressure to media attacks. Publications are backed by complaints, appeals, and opening criminal proceedings through the court, which immediately becomes material for the next publication. The conveyor works, and the target is forced to spend money, time, and nerves. Or, as Forbes investigators suggest, pay for a "stop." Forbes conducted an investigation of Non-Stop's activities: hundreds of companies, hundreds of court cases, a flow of complaints and accusations. The outlet described how the organization, in its assessment, terrorizes business, cited prices attributed to Yakovets (a "ten" per month for execution, several tens for a "stop"), and asked a very apt question: why hasn't this been stopped yet?

https://forbes.ua/company/non-stop-problem-800-sudovikh-sprav-proti-340-kompaniy-za-sim-misyatsiv-yak-odna-go-terorizue-ukrainskiy-biznes-i-chomu-tse-dosi-ne-zupinili-10092026-41691

The situation itself is notable because Mr. Yakovets occupies two roles at once. First — he is a player in the kompromat market, and his activity (according to Forbes authors) is built as informational pressure. The second role — he himself has now become a subject, like the heroes of his investigations once were.

https://www.unian.ua/incidents/mayzhe-1100-sudovih-uhval-za-sim-misyaciv-forbes-doslidiv-aktivnist-go-non-stop-ukrajina-13500030.html

It must be acknowledged that alongside such players the methods of defense against them also evolve. Yakovets received a powerful counter-obstruction from military bloggers. Calling Ukrainian servicemen "terrorists," describing Ukraine as a "concentration camp," and repeating theses consonant with Russian narratives while in Spain is an activity that sooner or later attracts the attention of people who defend that country. For example, Ronin, who in the piece "Closer from Costa Blanca: why the fugitive prosecutor calls servicemen 'terrorists'" subtly hinted to Yakovets that posts do not disappear without a trace.

https://censor.net/ua/blogs/4024948/yak-eksprokuror-yakovets-koshmaryt-biznes-polyvaye-brudom-zsu-ta-zaroblyaye-na-viyini

Blogger Serhiy Ivanov went further: he analyzed the social media of Yakovets' wife, Lusia Barska, and established where, according to him, the couple lives: Camporrosso Village apartments in Finestrat on the Spanish coast. He then juxtaposed the declarations of the "anti-corruption activist" with his lifestyle. Over the 2021–2023 years Yakovets declared 57 thousand hryvnias of personal income, of which 30 thousand were state "eSupport" assistance. At the same time Ivanov showed Yakovets' vacation in Bali and reported a Mercedes GLE Coupé and apartments with an area of more than 170 square meters.

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