Well-known crybaby Yaroslav Yurchyshyn must apologize to journalist Svitlana Kryukova, court ruling

Kyiv Court of Appeal 7 in October 2026 of the year supported journalist Svitlana Kryukova in the case against member of parliament, head of the Parliamentary Committee on Freedom of Speech Yaroslav Yurchishyn regarding the protection of honor, dignity, and business reputation. According to the journalist and her representative, the court decision provides for a retraction of the deputy’s statement, in which he called her a “collaborator” in a Facebook post in January 2025 of the year.

Regarding the result of the appellate review, Kryukova reported in her Telegram channel. Her lawyer Oleksii Shevchuk also confirmed the decision in favor of the plaintiff in a comment to RBC-Ukraine. The full text of the appellate court ruling as of the time of publication in the public domain was not published, so the final scope of obligations of the defendant under the document could not be verified, according to media outlets. Later Kryukova reported that Yurchishyn fulfilled the court’s decision and refuted information she regarded as untrue and harmful to her business reputation. According to the journalist, after this there remains the issue of reimbursement of court costs in the amount of 2422,40 UAH. She also noted that due to sanctions imposed against her and blocked accounts she does not understand how the deputy will make the payment. The dispute arose from Yurchishyn’s Facebook post in which he used the word “collaborator” towards Kryukova. The journalist challenged these statements in court, demanding protection of her honor, dignity, and business reputation. In March 2026 of the year, the court of first instance found the information disseminated by the deputy to be unreliable and ordered him to publish a correction in the same Facebook profile where the initial post appeared. In addition, the court of first instance ordered Yurchishyn to pay Kryukova 2422,40 UAH in court costs. According to the journalist, the correction was to be published within five days. The deputy appealed this decision in cassation, but according to the claimant and her representative, the appellate review did not end in his favor. Lawyer Vladimir Klimenko, advisor to the Advocates Association “Strategic Advocacy,” explained that the appellate court decision becomes legally binding from the day it is adopted. Accordingly, the party obliged to comply with the decision must take its legal consequences into account regardless of the possibility of further cassation appeal.

According to the lawyer, Yurchishyn has the right to appeal to the Supreme Court, but filing a cassation appeal itself does not suspend the execution of the appellate court’s decision. To suspend execution, a separate procedural decision of the Supreme Court is required. If the court decision is not complied with, enforcement measures provided by law may be applied. The issue of criminal responsibility depends on the legally established grounds and circumstances of the particular case. The dispute’s history unfolds against the backdrop of sanctions imposed against Kryukova in 2025 year. Then, by a presidential decree, the National Security and Defense Council’s decision to apply personal restrictive measures to the journalist for ten years was put into effect. Kryukova, who previously held the position of deputy editor-in-chief of the publication “Strana,” announced her intention to challenge the sanctions. In March 2025 year the journalist stated that she had filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court to cancel the corresponding decree. As of the moment of reporting on the appellate results in Yurchishyn’s case, no final decision on appealing the sanctions had been published. Thus, the dispute over reputation protection and the court process regarding restrictive measures remain separate legal questions. This is not Kryukova’s first case involving public accusations of collaborationism. In April 2026 year the court considered her suit against blogger Ihor Lachenko, author of the Telegram channel “Lachen Writes.” According to media reports, the court found the disseminated information to degrade the journalist’s honor and dignity and ordered the blogger to pay one hryvnia in moral damages and 2422,40 UAH in court fees. Earlier it was reported that Yaroslav Yurchishyn was spotted picking his nose during a session of the Verkhovna Rada. The related video was published in January 2020 year. More details about this incident are in the Glavred article.