Hromadske: police officers gave false names and turned off their cameras during the detention of journalist Shulhat

The editorial team at Hromadske conducted its own investigation into the circumstances surrounding the detention of investigative journalist Yevhen Shulhat and documented a number of violations by law enforcement officers.

According to the editorial team, the police officers identified themselves with fictitious names, and their body cameras were switched off at the moment of detention. The statement was published on Monday, August 10.

The outlet’s lawyer, Illia Podvornyi, reported that the military registration documents generated by Shulhat in the Rezerv+ app in May 2026, and again after his detention, contained no violations. No administrative offense reports were drawn up against the journalist, no decisions on bringing him to account were issued, and no fines were imposed.

“In the absence of any obligation to independently undergo a military medical commission, any summons from a TCC and SP, a status of ‘limited fitness,’ or any recorded violations of military registration rules, the grounds for detention cited by the police are legally untenable, and the coercive measure applied to Yevhen Shulhat was unlawful,” said Illia Podvornyi.

The accounts given by the police and the transport company diverge on a key point. Initially, police confirmed to media outlets that the journalist had been checked and found not to have undergone a military medical commission, after which he was taken to the TCC. Later, Kyiv police stated that they had stopped the vehicle for a document check and that the journalist “refused to provide them.” In response to a request from Hromadske, law enforcement officers said that a check through the information system had established that Shulhat lacked military registration documents, after which he was asked to travel to the Holosiivskyi district TCC and SP. The transport company, however, stated that the vehicle had been stopped due to a faulty signal light, not because of a report to the special hotline 102, and that the check of the passenger’s documents took place only after the stop.

“These two accounts contradict each other on the key question: whether the grounds for stopping the vehicle were a report to the 102 hotline or a technical fault with the vehicle. The police have yet to explain who exactly called the hotline and what the specific complaint against Yevhen Shulhat concerned,” the outlet notes.

During the detention, the law enforcement officers identified themselves as Serhiienko Ihor Mykolayovych and Nikolaichuk Mykola Serhiyovych — this was captured in an audio recording the journalist managed to make. However, no information about special police officers with those names could be found in open sources. Police later stated that the detention had been carried out by different officers. Hromadske lawyer Illia Podvornyi stressed that giving a false name while performing official duties constitutes a violation of the law.

“Article 18 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On the National Police’ clearly stipulates: when addressing a person, a police officer is obliged to state their real surname, position, and rank, and upon request to present their official identification. Giving a fictitious name while performing official duties contradicts this provision — regardless of whether the interaction with the journalist had the status of a formal detention,” said Podvornyi.

The Main Directorate of the National Police in Kyiv has initiated an internal investigation into this matter, the agency told the editorial team.

Shulhat himself stated that he had presented his documents to the law enforcement officers and agreed to a pat-down search, and that the detention was carried out by special police officers who used physical force against him. On July 27, after the journalist was taken to the TCC and the circumstances of the case were clarified, he was released and directed to undergo a military medical commission. Shulhat subsequently completed the MMC and enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, choosing a unit in which to serve.

Yevhen Shulhat works as an investigative journalist for Hromadske and specializes in anti-corruption topics. His reports have covered the activities of representatives of the SBU, the National Police, the prosecutor’s office, and customs authorities.