Susan Smith

And here is another juxtaposition of Ukrainian law and order. The lady doctor is going to be held for 60 days without bail and is facing up to eight years in prison for showing up in a medic’s uniform and making noise about what was happening inside that house. Oleksandr Shavlyuk, a Vinnytsia-based blogger and lawyer who spent years criticizing TCC mobilization practices and abuses, has been in custody since late 2024. In May 2026 a court sentenced him to three years for fraud and “insulting the honour and dignity of military personnel.” Iuliia Mendel, Zelensky’s former press secretary, was hit with 10-year sanctions in September and, just days ago, was notified in absentia of suspicion of high treason and justifying Russian aggression, largely over interviews and social media posts. She is abroad and faces potentially 15 years to life. There is a long list of such occurrences. Yet Andriy Yermak, who was charged in May 2026 with laundering more than ₴460 million, spent a few nights in detention before posting bail. He walked out with an electronic bracelet that has since been removed because it allegedly “could pose a threat to his life and health.” Former Energy and Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko, also implicated in those schemes, was detained while trying to leave the country but was later released after a reduced bail was posted. He remains free under court-imposed conditions. In Zakarpattia, the head of the local TCC, Andriy Savchuk, had his office searched by the SBU; roughly $100,000 in cash was found. He was dismissed, then reinstated as acting head within two months by the Land Forces Command. Meanwhile the Ombudsman’s office has logged more than 6,000 complaints about TCC practices in 2026 alone including unlawful detentions, beatings, and conscription of people with valid deferments. When those cases do reach court, convictions for torture or unlawful deprivation of liberty frequently result in suspended sentences and probation rather than actual prison time. And what ever happened to Lieutenant Colonel Yuriy Harkavyi, the commander of the 425th Separate Assault Regiment, the infamous “Skelia”? Last we heard, he was suspended in late June 2026 after an investigation documented at least 26 non-combat deaths of recruits between late 2025 and spring 2026. The men, mostly newly mobilized, were officially listed as dying of pneumonia or cardiovascular disease. Relatives and former soldiers described systematic beatings, humiliation, confinement, delayed medical care, and signs of violence on the bodies. Some accounts included recruits being tied to vehicles and dragged, and multiple suicides in short periods. He was removed from command. That is the extent of the public accountability so far. There is a long list of these occurrences as well. A critically minded individual should deduce that the pattern is not at all subtle. Critics of mobilization, people who show up at inconvenient places, and former officials who later speak critically get rapid suspicion notices, pre-trial detention without bail, and years in prison or in absentia treason charges and of course the obligatory “working for the Kremlin” label. Yet, senior figures from the inner circle facing massive corruption allegations get bail, a heads-up that it is time to leave the country, and the full presumption that the process will take its time. They remain untouched while the investigation into them is promised and then quietly deprioritized. This is exactly what happens when everyone is yelling over the legitimate critics and pretending that the giant yellow elephant doesn’t exist. This is what happens when people are given free rein to decide what is “disinformation” and what is “protection of national security.” What this certainly isn’t is Russian disinformation. When a state systematically protects actual abusers of people and office while treating anyone who documents it as the actual threat, they are ultimately the ones handing Russia the propaganda wins on a silver platter.