Attackers on Nikolov’s apartment: We were asked to arrest "talkative man", they said that everything was "agreed with SSU". VIDEO
Two residents of Zhytomyr who threatened journalist Yurii Nikolov at the door of his apartment claim that they were asked to do so by an acquaintance named Oleksiy. The men themselves did not even know who they were talking about.
They spoke frankly about this during an interview with the editorial board of the Zhytomyr.city website, Censor.NET reports.
As noted, the editorial office was approached by two guys who immediately said that they were the ones in the video, but had no idea who they were visiting. The guys are residents of Zhytomyr, so the conversation took place immediately after the Zhytomyr.city editorial office received a call.
According to the boys, they were approached for help by an acquaintance named Oleksiy, who showed them a video in which a man (later they found out that it was Yuriy Nikolov - Ed.) said some unpleasant things about President Zelensky. After that, Oleksiy suggested that the boys "help Ukraine and 'tame' the talkative man a little". He also claimed that these actions were "agreed with the SBU". That is, everything would be "under control" and would take place within the framework of the current legislation.
In addition, Oleksiy noted that "he works directly with the SBU". The man was always wearing a military uniform, so he gave the impression of a very decent and responsible person. Oleksiy gave the boys detailed instructions on what to write on the sheets of paper and what to say on the video. The video had to be filmed as a confirmation of the task. Finally, the "patriotic orientation of the action" was again emphasized.
The boys were driven to Kyiv by another friend of theirs who used to be a police officer. When asked if there was any crime involved, he also reassured the boys, stressing that "they were doing it for Ukraine". In addition, he also noted, "that it was the SBU who suggested they do it". In other words, "everything was under control".
After that, he drove the performers to his house, where they quickly "worked out" the order and shot the desired video. The video was immediately sent to Oleksiy. According to the guys, the three of them "worked" together.
Only the next day, all social networks, Telegram channels, and the media began to discuss the incident loudly. Almost every few minutes, the guys saw new versions of the video they had shot near the journalist's apartment.
A few days later, the boys were detained by Kyiv police officers on charges of a crime under Article 171, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - "Obstruction of the legitimate professional activities of journalists".
"The guys decided that they had been used in some strange game, that they had become a bargaining chip. That's why they decided to do an open video interview and frankly told their version of events. In addition, the guys tried to upload part of the video via messengers, but for some unknown reason, after sending the first file, they received a message that "the video is not available on the server". How this could have happened and who interfered with personal mobile devices during our conversation is also still a mystery," the article says.
During the conversation, the boys admitted that they had done something stupid and were outraged at themselves for succumbing to this provocation. In addition, after the police detained them and initiated criminal proceedings, the boys began to receive threats against them, so they now fear for their lives.
At the end of the conversation, the boys said they were ready to apologize personally to Yuriy Nikolov and said that "they were used in the dark" and did not know who they were going to see.
Attack on the apartment of journalist Yuriy Nikolov
Earlier, investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov said that on 14 January, unknown men broke into his apartment and tried to intimidate him. One of the anonymous Telegram channels "Card Office" (which is associated with the Office of the President) published a post with video and photos from the scene.
The head of the parliamentary committee on freedom of speech, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, said that this constituted an obstruction of journalistic activity.
The Kyiv police reported that they were investigating threats to journalist Nikolov. On 19 January, the Kyiv Prosecutor's Office opened proceedings over obstruction of the work of journalist Yuriy Nikolov.
At the same time, on 21 January, the police reported that they had identified five participants in the unlawful actions.
