Journalist Denys Bihus confirmed on June 19 that he is indeed a public freelance employee of the SBU operational unit of the SBU Military Counterintelligence Department (MCD).
The day before, on June 18, the MP Oleksiy Honcharenko declared that investigative journalist Denys Bihus is a public freelance employee of the operational unit of the Security Service of Ukraine, and showed the relevant agreement and receipt. The MP called the journalist a “snitch” and “a whistleblower who obediently carries out relevant assignments”.
Denys Bihus himself emphasized in a video on June 19 that the Department of Military Counterintelligence of SBU, of which he is a public freelance employee, had drawn Honcharenko with a marker on the published photos.
"Probably, with these words in a country that knows what the SBU MCD does, all the scum he added would sound somehow less impressive. Let me be specific: I am proud that I can — even a little — help the SBU MCD in the war. This, in particular, means to me that I did not spend two years on the front line in vain and did learn something," the journalist says.
Honcharenko also stated that it was thanks to his position in the SBU that Bihus "calmly returned to Kyiv, films his programs, rides a motorcycle — while others sit in the trenches".
The journalist explained that he fought in the Patrol Police, which he officially joined at the end of March 2022. In particular, during his service, he worked as a UAV operator in the Kherson direction, adjusted artillery, and acted in the interests of four brigades. He also conducted reconnaissance for the SBU MCD and the GUR units. According to him, during that period he mainly “shook things up with the brigades”. Bihus himself called himself “very productive”.
After the capture of Kherson, Bihus worked in the Donetsk direction. In June 2023, he was transferred to the Zaporizhzhia direction, where he worked in the interests of the senior artillery commander — mainly on electronic warfare and air defense.
In November 2023, Bihus resigned, as service in the Patrol Police allows him to do so. Bihus noted that at that time he registered with the TRC. According to him, he has no reservation from mobilization and does not receive money from the state budget for the position of a public freelance employee of the SBU Military Counterintelligence Department.
"When someone from SBU does shit, the editorial office filmed it, is filming it, and will continue to film it. And when SBU is fighting a war, I helped it, am helping it, and will help it with everything I can," the journalist responded to Honcharenkoʼs accusations about a "suspicious coincidence" when in January 2024 the Bihus.Info team was monitored by SBU, and in May Denys Bihus became a public freelance employee of the service.
Conflict between Bihus.Info and Oleksiy Honcharenko
On May 12, Bihus.Info published a story about Honcharenko, in which the deputy was accused of "hyper-gluttony" and "buckwheat-sowing", referring to the opening of "Honcharenko Centers".
Journalists also cited information from the "CHESNO" movement that one of the donors to these centers is businessman Oleh Bakhmatyuk, who was reported in 2022 on suspicion of bribery.
After that, Honcharenko turned to the editorial staff of the investigative project Bihus.Info with a request to provide information about its funding. In response, the projectʼs founder Denys Bihus noted that such a request could be interpreted as pressure on the media.
Later, Honcharenko wrote a letter to the director of the psychological support platform "Rozmova" — the platformʼs advertisement was in the journalistsʼ video, which featured the MP. In the letter, he asked whether they approved the release of such a video and whether the platform shared the journalistsʼ opinion about Honcharenko.
Bihus.Info journalists appealed to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, as well as to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Ethics due to the statements of the MP Oleksiy Honcharenko.
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