Kremlin Telegram-network: why Russia attacks judicial reform, honest judges, and activists in Ukraine?
The network analysis allowed us to identify key Telegram channels that discredit the judicial reform and the leading civil society organizations that help to implement it.
Rostyslav Kravets’ publications on his Telegram channel were shared the most. Incidentally, Kravets is the lawyer who supported the “Maidan judges” and traitor Oleh Hryvkovskyi in the courts. Kravets appeared on the Vovk tapes. He was used to file lawsuits in which Pavlo Vovk , the head of the defunct DACK, which made anti-Ukrainian decisions, was interested. The same DACK abolished the new Ukrainian spelling, which provided for the de-Russification of our language. The plaintiff was Kravets’s organization.
The second channel in this network, worth paying attention to, is ‘Andriy Portnov’. As you know, this politician was in charge of the courts during the time of the traitor Yanukovych. It is noteworthy that Portnov’s direct network includes the Telegram channel of MP Maksym Buzhansky, who is blocking the adoption of a law banning the activities of Moscow priests.
If we look at the network that Kravets and Portnov’s Telegram channels share through direct links (“reposts”), it also includes ‘Dubinskyi.pro’. MP Oleksandr Dubinskyi is known to be accused of treason in Ukraine and has long been sanctioned in the United States.
In addition to this channel, direct interaction was detected with ‘Sheptun UA’, ‘Polityka Krainy’, ‘Equilibrium’, ‘Borodataia Babushka’, ‘Zapiski Paskivlyanta’, and ‘Sorosyata’.
It is not only the number of reposts or who is spreading malicious content that is important, but also understanding what content these Telegram channels are constructing.
Kravets has been systematically devaluing the Supreme Court as an institution (often adding the words “not of Ukraine” or “without Ukraine” to the name of the court), its Grand Chamber, and its virtuous judges. For example, when Supreme Court Justice Ivan Mischenko decided to participate in a charity race to raise money for pickup trucks for the Armed Forces, Kravets turned it into populism and devalued the event by suggesting that judges simply donate money from their salaries. However, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, it was the Supreme Court that initiated the donation of part of judges’ salaries to support the Armed Forces and invited other courts to join in.
Screenshot from Rostyslav Kravets’s Telegram channel
As for Judge Mishchenko mentioned by Kravets, the father of three children, he took up arms and later became a platoon commander of the 93rd Kholodny Yar Brigade.
Photo from Mishchenko’s Facebook page
Mishchenko’s frontline call sign is “Judge Dredd.”
Kravets, whose posts are shared the most on this social network, is actively working not only to devalue Mishchenko but also to take an interest in other virtuous judges of the Supreme Court. He recently filed a request with the Supreme Court inquiring about the work of Viktor Propok and Dmytro Hudyma. Before that, Propok satisfied the cassation appeal of Automaidan, which was sued by Maidan judge Oleksandr Khrimli for the protection of honor and dignity. Kravets was the lawyer in that case on the side of Judge Khrimli. According to the Unified State Register of Court Decisions, the related case of Khrimli in the Supreme Court is being heard by Dmytro Hudyma.
The information field is formed in this way not only concerning judges. Kravets’s post, which was most widely shared on this network, refers to Roman Maselko, a member of the High Council of Justice, to whom Kravets repeatedly attributes… support for Hitler (!).
A screenshot from Rostyslav Kravets’s Telegram channel
Kravets’s posts targeting civil society activists from the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), including Vitaliy Shabunin, were also shared by Dubinsky.
Screenshot from the Telegram channel “Dubinsky.pro”
This MP, like his associate Maksym Buzhansky, often calls public figures “Sorosians” and the media that invite them “Sorosian”. Moreover, discrediting campaigns on Telegram no longer target the names of NGOs, but mainly public sector leaders.
Screenshot from the Telegram channel “Max Buzhansky”
In total, Soros-related words have been used about 1,000 times on this network’s channels (most often by ‘Equilibrium’, ‘Pod mantia’, and ‘Dubinsky.pro’). It is the enemy state that benefits from spreading the narrative that Ukraine is unable to build institutions on its own without Western partners and that civil society depends solely on donors.
The Telegram channel “Stuffedcabbagerollsfrom Bankova” also joined this discrediting campaign of the public sector. Earlier, Holka wrote that this channel is part of a pro-Russian network.
Accordingly, a number of such Telegram channels systematically construct the information field in favor of the aggressor state. Such narratives are spread not only on Telegram, but also on some Facebook pages, including the “Office of Judicial System Purification.”
One of the Telegram channels that actively shares Kravets’s posts is ‘Pod Mantia’, which, according to the Anti-Corruption Action Center, is run by Pavlo Vovk. “Under the Cloak” also spreads fakes about civil society leaders working on judicial reform, including Mykhailo Zhernakov, head of the DEJURE Foundation .
Screenshot from the Telegram channel “Under the Cloak”
The reposts confirm that “Under the Cloak” has interaction with the “Judicial and Legal Newspaper” in the same way that “Law and Business” has interaction with “Equilibrium”. It is worth recalling here that when Roman Ratushnyi, a defender of Protasov Yar, died at the front, the website of the Judicial and Legal Newspaper, which has a Telegram channel of the same name, wrote in sync with the pro-Russian publication Strana.ua:
“Roman Ratushnyi, a suspect in the organization of the pogrom on Bankova Street, died at the front.”
Thus, the devaluation of the lawyer and defender of Ukraine, who advocated for quality judicial reform, continued even after his death. Svyatoslav Pohranichnyi, the editor-in-chief of the Judicial and Legal Newspaper, was featured on Vovk’s tapes and, in addition, whitewashed Vovk’s deputy, Yevhen Abalov, known for the phrase “chief, let’s go and do some crazy stuff” and for banning the Maidan. Pavlo Vovk wanted to make him a member of the HCJ and gave him a very eloquent characterization – “dolbo*b” (a jerk).
Screenshot from the NABU YouTube channel
And one of the regular contributors to the Judicial and Legal Newspaper, Vyacheslav Khrypun , justified the “DNR” members, who are allegedly not terrorists, saying that what is happening in Ukraine is not a war, and that comments should be taken from both sides of the conflict.
In view of the above, it is interesting to know what ties to this publication or its beneficiaries have those Ukrainian judges whom the newspaper congratulates on their birthdays on the main page every day, and what makes the head of the Supreme Court, Stanislav Kravchenko, consider this newspaper a “longtime partner”?
The ‘Law and Business’ channel is also part of this network. The eponymous publication is associated with the aforementioned Andriy Portnov. It regularly covered his activities. Previously, Yuriy Petrenko was listed as the beneficial owner of Law and Business. A person with the same initials was an assistant to MP Pysarenko, a longtime associate of Andriy Portnov.
Law and Business praised Yanukovych for his reforms and warm relations with Russia, and he appreciated the newspaper for its “objectivity and impartiality.”
Screenshot from the Law and Business website
The magazine recognized both Portnov and Yanukovych as the best lawyers of the year. In particular, Viktor Fedorovich was recognized in the Reforms of the Year nomination.
Andriy Portnov is one of those who designed the judicial system under the fugitive president so that the judiciary would never be strong and independent. The law “On the Bar and Practice of Law,” which he was so happy about, allowed Medvedchuk’s associates to monopolize the National Bar Association of Ukraine. And now one of the key tasks of the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada, headed by Denys Maslov (Servant of the People), is to urgently work out amendments to the law. Especially since the European Commission insists on this in its report.
Organizations working on judicial reform in the country, such as the Anti-Corruption Action Center and DEJURE, are constantly under attack by pro-Russian media. Portnov writes that the AntAC is a “thieving organization” that “thinks it is a foreign embassy”.
Screenshot from Portnov’s Telegram channel
And, of course, there is interaction with pro-Russian figures Buzhansky and Dubinsky. The head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, Vitaliy Shabunin, is the key one.
Screenshot of Portnov’s Telegram post
By the way, the aforementioned Kravets once applied to have the Anti-Corruption Action Center recognized as an extremist organization. Portnov is currently suing the AntAC because he does not recognize himself as a pro-Russian politician.
Because we do not proactively change the system, even in times of full-scale war, it is quite possible for Portnov to win a court case in Ukraine. In the first instance, Judge Serhiy Vovk ruled in favor of Portnov, who said that the Revolution of Dignity was an unconstitutional seizure of power. The Anti-Corruption Action Center filed an appeal.
Portnov’s Telegram channel, as well as the channel “Elena Lukash” named after the former Minister of Justice of Yanukovych’s time, Elena Lukash, are currently not being broadcast. Portnov’s channel is simply frozen, and Lukash’s is closed.
However, the voluntary closure of such channels should not be celebrated. Even the Telegram channel of the late traitor Kyrylo Stremousov has come back to life, is functioning, and currently has about 40,000 subscribers.
Some YouTube channels have also begun to resume their work. For example, the banned Nash TV channel was cleared of content on this platform, and in January 2024, it was relaunched under the name Vyshka, as Holka has already written about. And the existing 1.1 million subscribers immediately began to consume content with the narratives Russia needed and with the speakers who had previously formed the media field on the now-banned TV channels.
The state already has experience blocking YouTube channels that violate the rules of Google, the owner of this video hosting service. But Telegram, founded by a Russian, remains without any regulation at all, and this is unfair competition in the media market.
For reference. Telegram channel names of the entire network:
Rostyslav Kravets, Dubinskyi. pro, Max Buzhansky, Andriy Portnov, Kravets & Partners, Under the Cloak, Soros, Equilibrium, Resident, Bearded Grandmother, Notes of a Libeler, Ukraine news, Onion, SheptunUA Ukraine War, Untouchables, Shadow on the Wicker, Country Politics, Anti-Raid, Shram, Ukrainian Independent Foundation of Lawyers, Pavlovsky News, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls from Bankova, Dark Knight, ZeRada, Legitimate, Law and Business, Judicial and Legal Newspaper, Elena Lukash.
The study covered almost 60 Telegram channels that were included in the sample (over 21,000 reposts). These reposts were analyzed for information about the judicial reform and those related to it. This allowed us to identify almost 30 Telegram channels that create an information field to slow down the judicial reform and discredit those who are implementing it.
Yulia Dukach (texty.org.ua) worked on data collection and processing. The Holka civic initiative developed the methodology and conducted the research.
Especially for “Glavkom”
