After the investigation by the YouTube channel Iron MP, the situation around blogger Volodymyr Petrov has received an official continuation. The National Military Memorial Cemetery and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs reacted to the facts of possible fake employment and booking. This was reported by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
On the morning of January 20, the National Military Memorial Cemetery announced Petrov's dismissal. Formally, this occurred based on his personal statement; however, the decision was made after public exposure and a service investigation. The Minister of Veterans Affairs, Natalia Kalmykova, announced a review of all personnel policies within the institution and a change in the procedure for agreeing on appointments.
Fake booking through the military memorial
The investigation revealed that Petrov was employed in a government institution and received booking from mobilization. After dismissal, the booking action ends, and according to Zheleznyak, the blogger loses his reserved status. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Veterans emphasized that such personnel decisions should not discredit the memory of fallen defenders.
Criminal proceedings and new suspicions
At the same time, the development of another case is ongoing. The court granted the National Police access to Petrov's mobile traffic in the investigation of the attack on investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov. This may serve as a basis for declaring a suspicion of organizing the attack.
Additionally, according to data from the State Register of Court Decisions, the Security Service of Ukraine has opened a criminal proceeding under Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – state treason. The investigation believes that Petrov, using his own media resources, spread anti-Ukrainian narratives, denied the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, and discredited mobilization during martial law.
In the video, Zheleznyak states that these are not the last legal consequences in the case, and further investigations may relate to other media projects associated with pro-Russian messages.
Recall that Yaroslav Zheleznyak also reported that journalists, together with foreign colleagues, established that some of the case's figures had been engaging in entrepreneurial activities in Slovakia since the late 2000s.