Viktor Goldsky has filed a lawsuit against UA.NEWS over an earlier investigative report by the publication regarding the "resurrection" of Kurchenko's media empire
Viktor Goldsky, the owner of “Kommentarii,” is suing UA.NEWS over an investigation into “Kurchenko’s people.”
The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv has received a complaint from Viktor Serhiyovych Goldsky against LLC “News Flash Information Agency” (UA.NEWS) regarding the protection of honor and dignity.
The plaintiff demands that the investigative article titled “Kurchenko’s People: How the Oligarch’s Media Empire ‘Resurrected’ in Ukraine Under the Control of the Goldsky Family” be completely removed from the website, and that an official retraction be published.
What exactly is the plaintiff demanding be refuted
According to the text of the complaint, Viktor Goldsky considers six key points from the editorial investigation to be untrue and damaging to his reputation. In particular, he asks the court to declare false the information that:
- Fugitive oligarch Serhiy Kurchenko retains at least some influence over the Ukrainian media market through assets concentrated in Goldsky’s hands.
- In 2018, the plaintiff became the owner of the online publication Comments.ua, which the article refers to as “Kurchenko’s former key media outlet.”
- Between 2014 and 2015, Goldsky worked at the “Ukrainian Media Holding” (UMH Group) as commercial director under the leadership of former “Party of Regions” MP Olena Bondarenko.
- Currently, he serves as editor-in-chief of some of the former UMH’s news outlets, acts as a “puppet,” and publishes commissioned articles for profit.
- Goldsky acquired a portion of UMH’s media assets after ARMA announced their sale.
The plaintiff insists that the publication Comments.ua “was never one of Kurchenko’s media outlets,” and that he himself never worked under the leadership of Olena Bondarenko and does not control the assets of the fugitive oligarch.
If it’s impossible to remove it, you have to take everything down
Viktor Goldsky’s lawyers or the plaintiff himself have formulated an interesting legal argument in the lawsuit. They note that since removing only certain phrases from the text is “impossible without harming the content of the entire material,” the article must be removed from the UA.NEWS website entirely.
“Under these circumstances, removing only certain phrases from the publication is impossible... the material will lose its logical sequence, becoming incomprehensible and fragmented. Thus... the contested publication, distributed on the Internet, must be removed in its entirety.”
Instead of the investigation, a retraction must appear on the site under the telling headline “The Ghost of Kurchenko: How Viktor Goldsky Gained Control Over the Media of the Former UMH.”
The financial side of the matter: a semantic analysis for 33,000
To prove to the court that the journalists had defamed him, Viktor Goldsky decided to go all out. The total amount of preliminary legal costs he plans to charge UA.NEWS in the event of a victory is 63,027.40 hryvnia.
The lion’s share of this amount consists not of state fees, but of private research. The breakdown of costs is as follows:
- Court fee (for two claims) — 2,662.40 UAH;
- Payment for the Structure Report (Cyprus) — 2,400.00 UAH;
- Report from the Competence Center based on the results of the website’s online capture by “WEB-FIX” — 4,800.00 UAH;
- Conducting a semantic-textual analysis — 33,165.00 UAH.
In addition, the plaintiff is setting aside another 20,000 UAH for expenses related to legal assistance directly during the court proceedings.
What’s in the attachments
Attached to the complaint, signed by Goldsky on April 7, 2026, is a package of documents intended to refute his ties to Kurchenko and Olena Bondarenko. These include a copy of his employment record book, a certificate from the Pension Fund regarding his employment and insurance history, as well as a copy of the order regarding his hiring at VD Masavi LLC.
Also included among the attachments is a copy of the order from the Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force dated June 8, 2022, and an expert opinion from Expert-Research Service of Ukraine LLC.
The editorial staff of the online media outlet UA.NEWS emphasizes that it operates strictly within the legal framework, adhering to the principles of freedom of speech and professional standards of journalistic investigations. We are prepared to defend the accuracy of the published facts in court.
We would like to emphasize separately that all of our investigations are substantiated—our journalists do not fabricate facts out of thin air, but rely on official registries, documents, and verified data. Lawsuits against the press are standard practice in Europe, so we will gladly keep our readers informed about every stage of the proceedings.
The preliminary hearing at the Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv is scheduled for July 21 at 10:30 a.m.
