Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 23 hours ago
Ukrainian journalist Anna Babinets revealed how former President Viktor Yanukovych spent billions in public money on a residence with a sauna, diamonds in the elevator, and an ostrich farm.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Beginning of career: investigating Ukrainian army
03:58 Visiting Yanukovych’s palace
11:15 Hiring scuba divers to recover documents
14:58 Drying Yanukovych documents in a sauna
16:00 Weirdest findings in Yanukovych’s residence
20:23 Destroyed documents: tracing Yanukovych’s wealth
22:32 Panama Papers: findings about Poroshenko
26:15 Backlash after Poroshenko investigation
28:43 Storytelling challenges
30:00 Slidstvo co-founder Dmytro Hnap runs for elections
35:00 Scandal over journalism award funds
39:47 Why Zelensky doesn’t like Slidstvo.info
42:00 Zelensky’s offshores and Kolomoyskyi connection
43:00 Russian invasion begins
51:00 First wartime investigations: identifying soldiers
52:20 Kidnapping of Ukrainian children to Russia
59:20 How journalists helped bring them back
1:04:30 Journalists as "enemies of state"
She helped launch the Yanukovych Leaks project, searched the Panama Papers for offshore structures of former President Petro Poroshenko—and in the Pandora Papers, she stumbled upon companies of the current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy connected to oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi.
After the start of the Russian invasion, Anna Babinets prepared her newsroom of investigative journalists at Slidstvo.Info for work in war conditions. People slept in the office, cats ran among the sleeping bags, and reporters went out into the field immediately after military attacks. Five of her journalists now serve in the army—some as analysts, others in combat units.
In the interview with Pavla Holcová, Anna speaks not only about war journalism but also about the verbal attacks she experienced after publishing sensitive cases. She explains why, at a time when war is raging around them, the newsroom continues to deal with the topic of corruption and why silence harms more than the truth.
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#podcast #ukraine #russia
Ukrainian journalist Anna Babinets revealed how former President Viktor Yanukovych spent billions in public money on a residence with a sauna, diamonds in the elevator, and an ostrich farm.
Subscribe to OCCRP on YouTube ► https://shorturl.at/BSzsh
Timestamps:
00:00 Beginning of career: investigating Ukrainian army
03:58 Visiting Yanukovych’s palace
11:15 Hiring scuba divers to recover documents
14:58 Drying Yanukovych documents in a sauna
16:00 Weirdest findings in Yanukovych’s residence
20:23 Destroyed documents: tracing Yanukovych’s wealth
22:32 Panama Papers: findings about Poroshenko
26:15 Backlash after Poroshenko investigation
28:43 Storytelling challenges
30:00 Slidstvo co-founder Dmytro Hnap runs for elections
35:00 Scandal over journalism award funds
39:47 Why Zelensky doesn’t like Slidstvo.info
42:00 Zelensky’s offshores and Kolomoyskyi connection
43:00 Russian invasion begins
51:00 First wartime investigations: identifying soldiers
52:20 Kidnapping of Ukrainian children to Russia
59:20 How journalists helped bring them back
1:04:30 Journalists as "enemies of state"
She helped launch the Yanukovych Leaks project, searched the Panama Papers for offshore structures of former President Petro Poroshenko—and in the Pandora Papers, she stumbled upon companies of the current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy connected to oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi.
After the start of the Russian invasion, Anna Babinets prepared her newsroom of investigative journalists at Slidstvo.Info for work in war conditions. People slept in the office, cats ran among the sleeping bags, and reporters went out into the field immediately after military attacks. Five of her journalists now serve in the army—some as analysts, others in combat units.
In the interview with Pavla Holcová, Anna speaks not only about war journalism but also about the verbal attacks she experienced after publishing sensitive cases. She explains why, at a time when war is raging around them, the newsroom continues to deal with the topic of corruption and why silence harms more than the truth.
Follow OCCRP
Instagram ►► instagram.com/occrp
Facebook ►► facebook.com/OCCRP.org
Tik Tok ►► tiktok.com/@occrp.org
LinkedIn ►► linkedin.com/company/the-organized-crime-and-corruption-reporting-project
Twitter ►► https://x.com/OCCRP
#podcast #ukraine #russia
