Journalist accuses Pervomaisk mayor of defamation: «He can't imagine anyone working without a boss»
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- Alisa MelikadamianContributing Editor, Reporter
Galina Davydova, editor-in-chief and journalist at Gard.City. Photo from her personal Facebook pageHalyna Davydova, editor-in-chief and journalist at Gard.City, has stated that the mayor of Pervomaisk has unjustifiably accused her of working for the so-called ‘boss’.
She posted a video statement to this effect on Facebook.
According to Halyna Davydova, the incident took place on 1 June during a protest organised by veterans in Pervomaisk. The protesters were expressing their disagreement with the procedure for granting combatant status. She witnessed the protest when she came to submit a freedom of information request to the city executive committee.
While she was talking to the protesters, the mayor came out to them and invited them to his office for a chat.
«We went up to the office, and the mayor turned to me and asked me to step outside so we could talk in private. I asked the lads if they needed me there and if they wanted to speak without the press. If they’d said yes, I would have left. But the mayor immediately claimed that my mythical boss had sent me to the office,» said Halyna Davydova.
She described Oleh Demchenko’s accusation as a baseless mockery of the media, whose work, according to the editor-in-chief, is funded by grant projects and work with donors.
«Such statements are baseless — it’s such a huge mockery of the media. You have no idea how we journalists manage to get our salaries. How we work with donors, how many project proposals we write, and how many of them are successful; how we work with advertisers; how we save every penny so that our media outlet can function and survive. And then I’m told that I have a boss,» she said.
The journalist emphasises that the mayor has no evidence to back up his claims and is counting on such accusations going unpunished.
«In our country, which is currently not a state governed by the rule of law, his words go completely unpunished. He is not prepared to provide documents or evidence that I have a «boss». His confidence is based on the fact that if I file a defamation suit, it will end up being a nerve-wracking ordeal for me and a drain on funds I simply do not have. That is why the mayor is so confident of his impunity. People believe he knows exactly what he is doing. How many times have I told the mayor himself, and written in the pages of our publication, where and how we receive our salaries. It is impossible to imagine that anyone would work without a boss. The chairman cannot imagine this, which is why this situation has arisen,» stated Halyna Davydova.
At the end of the video, she appealed to Oleh Demchenko not to spread rumours and to respect the work of journalists.
«I have never been your enemy, but you are creating enemies for yourself with your own hands. You cannot imagine a press that films, photographs and writes articles about anything other than yourself. Ask questions, do not spread rumours,» she concluded.
NikVesti has contacted the mayor of Pervomaisk, Oleh Demchenko, for comment and will publish his response as soon as it is received.
As a reminder, in January 2026, Oleh Demchenko, the mayor of Pervomaisk, who had been served with a notice of suspicion regarding false declarations, attended the ReBuild Ukraine international conference in Warsaw.
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