The cars of Ukrainian journalist Pavlo Biletskiy have been destroyed in what seems to be an arson attack

On December 5, unknown individuals burned two vehicles that belonged to Biletskiy, the chief editor of independent news agency Zido, and his wife in the western Ukrainian city of Uzhgorod.

At approximately 4:20 am, Biletskiy's daughter saw the family's Subaru Forester and Volkswagen Beetle burning in their backyard and woke the journalist, he told CPWhen firefighters and police arrived at 4:30 a.m., both vehicles had been destroyed, Biletskiyist told CPJ.

According to Biletskiy, the attacks are not related to the recent Zido report about local corruption and property developers, or to the report he authored about the illegal privatization of a road in Tyachiv in Transcarpathia. Biletskiy said he is also investigating the theft and resale of gravel in Transcarpathia. According to CPJ, the local police opened an investigation into the "deliberate destruction or damage of property by arson." The damage amounted to about 325,080 hryvna (US$12,000).

It has been documented that several Ukrainian journalists' cars have been set on fire in the past few years, including the car of journalist Serhii Guz in February 2017, in Kamyansky, Central Ukraine, and the car of journalists working for the "Schemes" news program in August 2020, in Brovary, near Kiev, Ukraine.

* This article contained information that was sourced from the Committee to Protect Journalists.