The professor of the Institute of Journalism Mykyta Vasylenko collects hundreds of thousands of views, commenting on the war. Babel analyzed his speeches, following the standards of journalism
- Authors:
- Anton Semyzhenko, Glib Gusiev
- Date:
«Babel'»
For 40 years, Mykyta Vasylenko has been teaching students to write investigations and reports at the Institute of Journalism of KNU named after Taras Shevchenko. In the 2000s and 2010s, at the same time as a teacher, he also pursued a political career — however, the party to which he belonged for many years was banned as pro-Russian at the beginning of the Great War. In 2018-2022, Mykyta Vasylenko regularly appeared on the channels of Viktor Medvedchuk and Yevhen Murayev, which are currently under sanctions. And when they were banned, he switched to political YouTube channels, where he collects hundreds of thousands of views. Vasylenkoʼs main technique is to predict the future crisis under any circumstances: the extinction of the population or an uprising "in the rear and at the front". Babel reviewed many interviews with Vasylenko and asked him to comment on the course of the war.
At the same time as a teacher, Mykyta Vasylenko pursued a political career — however, his party was banned as pro-Russian
Mykyta Vasylenko is a teacher and writer. He is 68 years old. In 1978, he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of KNU. After graduation he worked in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR. Subsequently, he became a researcher at the Institute of Art History. Since 1984, he has been teaching at the Institute of Journalism of KNU named after Taras Shevchenko. Now he is a professor at the department of periodical press — he teaches students to write investigations and reports.
Professor Vasylenko with the newspaper "Soldat", which he has been publishing since 2022.
Since 2008, Vasylenko has been a member and secretary of the city organization of the “Union of Left Forces” party, which was founded by Vasyl Volha. Vasyl Volha is known for having worked in the government during Yanukovychʼs presidency, was convicted of corruption in 2011, and worked as a librarian in a colony. In an interview in 2018, Vasyl Volha called the Revolution of Dignity a "coup dʼétat" and stated that "Kyiv is occupied by serfs from Western Ukraine who want to ban the Russian language." In a comment to Babel, Vasylenko says that it is the first time he has heard of such statements by Volha and he is surprised by them.
Vasylenko says that he "demonstratively left" the party back in 2014-2015 due to corruption and violation of party ethics. And although he remained its de jure member, he did not participate in its activities. However, Vasylenko can be seen in the hall at the Congress of the Union of Left Forces in March 2016. He also promoted the party (which managed to change its name) on the air of the First Independent TV channel in January 2022.
In March 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decision of the National Security Council, which suspended the activities of some political parties, in particular the "Union of Left Forces". In June 2022, the court banned the "Union of Left Forces" — the Ministry of Justice called it pro-Russian.
Students of the Institute of Journalism (IJ) complained about Vasylenko many times and accused him of sexism
In 2015, Vasylenko called a student who criticized education at the institute a "fool" and a "loser," because she "doesnʼt appear on TV or in print journalism." The director of the institute at the time Volodymyr Rizun called this correspondence a fake.
In 2020, more than 50 students wrote a complaint against the director of IJ: they accused Vasylenko of sexism and campaigning for IJ. In the end, the students who complained were transferred to another teacher in the group.
In the summer of 2023, more than 170 students wrote a new complaint: they asked for Vasylenkoʼs dismissal because of his "blatant pro-Russian and sexist position." According to female students, he called them "babies", "bunnies" and "sunnies", and said that "journalism is not a womanʼs profession", that he was "against everyone having rights, especially women", whom he advised to find a "good man". (Babel reviewed the available recordings of Vasylenkoʼs online classes and did not find unambiguous manifestations of sexism in them.)
In 2023, the students also appealed to the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets. After that, the universityʼs commission on ethics recognized that Vasylenko had violated the Code of Ethics of the university community. Then he was reprimanded. Lubinets also handed over the evidence gathered by the students to SBU.
In February 2024, student Oksana Parashchak publicly voiced the studentsʼ accusations from the complaint they filed in the summer of 2023. Vasylenko called it slander and said that he would take the student to court. (Paraschak tells Babel that he did not do this. Vasylenko told Babel that he does not want to comment on this story.)
Mykyta Vasylenko regularly appeared on the channels that are currently under sanctions (however, until a certain point, MPs of "Servants of the People" did this as well)
In 2018-2022, Mykyta Vasylenko regularly appeared on the YouTube channel of Anatoliy Shariy, in political talk shows on Viktor Medvedchukʼs TV channels ZIK, “NewsOne”, "112 Ukraine" and the "Nash" channel owned by Yevhen Murayev. The National Security and Defense Council imposed sanctions on these TV channels in 2022.
In one of the “NewsOne” broadcasts, the journalist presents Mykyta Vasylenko as "a professor who is always ready to comment on extremely complex topics." In the talk show, Vasylenko was indeed a wide-ranging expert. He commented on world events, the economy, international and domestic politics, public sentiment, and the war.
- In 2018, he stated that "in the last three years, the death rate in Ukraine has increased 22 times." In fact (according to official statistics), in 2015-2018, mortality in Ukraine did not increase, but decreased.
- In the same year, Vasylenko said that in Ukraine "the extinction of the nation continues" and there are approximately 27-30 million people left. In fact (according to the population estimate, which was worked on by the then Minister Dmytro Dubilet), at the beginning of 2019, more than 37 million people lived in Ukraine.
- In 2020, during the coronavirus epidemic, Vasylenko said that only a Russian vaccine would save Ukrainians, otherwise "no one will protect Ukraine." He was convinced that "the Russian vaccine will be given to everyone."
- In 2020, on the air of the KRT TV channel, he said that he did not go to the Maidan and would not do it if the Revolution of Dignity happened again. In a comment to Babel, Vasylenko said that he was on the Maidan, and that the "Revolution of Dignity is an uprising planned by the Americans."
In a comment to Babel, Mykyta Vasylenko said that he was invited as an "opponent of these channels", that he "as a leftist always opposed the super-capitalist and thief Medvedchuk" and was never a supporter of "Russian peace".
Mykyta Vasylenkoʼs main trick is to predict popular protests and uprisings
Mykyta Vasylenko often predicts popular uprisings. In 2016, he said that because of the "trench war in the east of Ukraine" a revolution will happen and in a year and a half, monuments will be erected in Ukraine to the fighters of the Tornado company, who committed crimes against civilians in the ATO [anti-terrorist operation] zone.
In 2019, he hinted that high school students and young people will revolt when they learn that they will have to switch to the Ukrainian language in educational institutions. In the same year, he again declared that "Ukraine does not have a goal of development" and this should lead not only to "economic collapse, but also to social conflict", i.e. revolution.
In 2020, in a review of a talk show on “NewsOne”, the journalist of "Detector Media" Yaroslav Zubchenko mentioned that Professor Vasylenko predicted a civil war on the air.
During the full-scale invasion, Vasylenko constantly alludes to an uprising both in the rear and at the front. For example, in 2023, he predicted that in 2024 there would be a "bloody riot of a savage population with weapons in their hands." He said this in an interview with the "Da, eto tak" YouTube channel, which was blocked in Ukraine in April 2024.
In September 2024, Vasylenko said that "due to mobilization, the oppressed enslaved population, humiliated by rising prices, will rise up."
Babel asked Mykyta Vasylenko to comment on the course of the war (and collected his past comments on this topic)
Vasylenko says that Zelenskyʼs Victory Plan will be partially implemented — thanks to "the death of the main part of the male population that did not fall under the armor." He also believes that there is a "crazy Victory Plan", according to which they will start mobilizing students who will "go to Moscow".
According to him, 70% of those mobilized are "taken from small towns", half of them are unfit, so they "either surrender or die". The professor says that every second stormtrooper dies or is wounded within three days at the front.
According to the professor, 23-25 million Ukrainians remained in Ukraine due to the outflow of refugees and mobilization. He adds that Ukrainians will completely disappear in three generations — that is, in 75 years.
In his comment to Babel, Mykyta Vasylenko predicts that the war will end with a "freeze" in the summer of 2025. One of the reasons is the burnout of the army, because this "historically happened in the fourth year of the war." He also said this on the UKRLIVE.TV channel and added that "tired soldiers are rebelling."
"But a freeze is a freeze. That is, it will freeze and thaw. This is the first act of our big drama in the summer. The world doesnʼt want to stand up for Ukraine, thatʼs already obvious,”commented Mykyta Vasylenko to Babel.
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