Austrian Police Detain Ukrainian Investigative Reporters in Vienna

Austrian authorities on Thursday detained and held without access to communications a high-profile Ukrainian journalist on assignment in Vienna for an investigative article, statements from the reporter’s employer Ukrainska Pravda (UP) said. Mykhailo Tkach, head of UP’s investigative journalism department, was in the Austrian capital with camera operator Yaroslav Bondarenko “while carrying out an assignment from the editorial team in connection with the search for the fugitive Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.”JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Kravchenko, the former Ukrainian prosecutor general, had fled Ukraine in mid-September following a major corruption probe into alleged protection rackets for fraudulent call centers, as well as bribes and money laundering supporting that illegal activity, through the Prosecutor General’s Office. The UP statement by UP editor-in-chief Sevgil Musayeva did not say what the reporter team had been investigating. Since Tkach and Bonderenko’s detention on Thursday, editors have had no direct contact with the pair or independent confirmation that they are safe, despite UP attempts to find that out from Vienna police and through diplomatic channels, Musayeva said. An Austrian lawyer hired by UP is in touch with the two journalists, and Tkach was confirmed by the lawyer to have been taken by police to a Vienna detention center, the statement said. Other Topics of Interest Russian Strike Near Apartment Building in Zaporizhzhia Kills 1, Injures 7 Russian forces hit a residential area of the southeastern Ukrainian city overnight, with authorities reporting civilian casualties. The Austrian detention was unlawful and UP demands an official explanation from Austrian law enforcement as well as Tkach and Bondarenko’s immediate release, Musayeva said. “Mykhailo and Yaroslav went to Vienna to do their job,” Musyaeva said. “I insist that the safety of journalists and the right to professional activity must be guaranteed. We expect urgent action, transparent explanations and respect for all the rights of our colleagues from the Austrian authorities. The Ukrainian Embassy in Austria and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry have contacted Austrian authorities for an explanation and sought and obtained consular access. A Ukrainian diplomat spoke with Tkach at the detention facility but Austrian authorities continued to hold him, as yet without any announced charges. “We have received information about the detention of Mykhailo Tkach. The Embassy of Ukraine in Austria has already asked the Austrian side to explain the circumstances of this detention. The consul is already in contact with Austrian colleagues and has officially requested access to the detained citizen,” said Ukraine Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhy in a statement published by the state-run Ukrinform news agency. UP is Ukraine’s leading weekly news magazine with a long record for reliable reporting targeting official wrongdoing. Tkach is a prominent investigative journalist known for exposing corruption, most recently individuals close to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s circle. Kravchenko, according to Ukrainian news reports, surreptitiously crossed a Ukraine-EU border on Sept. 14 with an initial destination France. In a subsequent statement from an undisclosed European location, Kravchenko denied wrongdoing and said he had gone abroad on a business trip. Stefan Korshak is the Kyiv Post Senior Defense Correspondent. He is from Houston Texas, is a Yalie and since the mid-1990s has worked as correspondent/photographer for newswire, newspapers, television and radio. He has reported from five wars but most enjoys doing articles on wildlife and nature. You can read his weekly blog on the Russo-Ukraine War on Facebook, Substack and Medium. His new book on the 2022 Siege of Mariupol is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US.