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September 02, 2025 – Ukraine –
Former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko has revealed that Russian forces attempted to pressure him into luring prominent journalist Serhiy Nikitenko into a trap during the early days of the occupation. Mykolayenko, who was abducted by Russian troops in April 2022 for refusing to collaborate, recounted the ordeal after his release on August 24, 2025, following more than two years in captivity.
According to Mykolayenko, Russian officers ordered him to contact Nikitenko, editor of the local outlet MOST, as well as volunteer Elika Markelia, and persuade them to attend a meeting. The plan was to ambush them so the FSB could take them into custody. He said the attempt involved not only occupying troops but also local collaborators who knew Kherson’s civic community and could identify independent voices.
Mykolayenko refused to comply, protecting Nikitenko and Markelia from what would likely have been arrest, torture, or forced disappearance. His testimony highlights how journalists were deliberately targeted as threats by Russian authorities seeking to eliminate independent reporting from occupied areas.
For press freedom defenders, this revelation underlines the peril facing Ukrainian journalists who continue to document war crimes, even at the risk of abduction or death. Nikitenko’s narrow escape shows both the dangers and the resilience of those determined to keep reporting, and the critical role of those who resisted pressure to betray them.
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