Odesa journalist banned from working at court hearing in Maltsev case

Judge of the Odesa Court of Appeal Ruslan Kotelevsky banned Oksana Pidnesna, editor-in-chief of the publication "Power of Communities," from filming during the hearing in the case of Oleh Maltsev, who is accused of creating an illegal paramilitary group.

According to Oksana Pidnesna, the ban was justified by the fact that she is a witness in the case.

The fact is that Oksana Pidnepesna did indeed testify about the activities of Oleh Maltsev and his organization after his detention, as did 18 other journalists.

"However, the petition from my colleagues does not even have my signature on it, but for some reason, lawyer Babikov included me alone in a "separate petition" among the witnesses who are now allegedly not allowed to attend the hearing. I am still convinced that this is, in fact, an obstruction of my journalistic activity in order to prevent me from covering the course of the court case honestly and impartially; and the lawyers who are behind this should be brought to the Higher Disciplinary Commission for such a violation.

In April 2025, law enforcement officers detained Oleh Maltsev's lawyer, Olga Panchenko, on suspicion of active participation in the creation of a paramilitary group whose leader was considered to be her client. During a search of the defendant's apartment, a 7.62×39 rifled carbine "FORT 205" assembled on the basis of an AKM assault rifle and four magazines for it were seized. Some of the other members of the group are already cooperating with the investigation and have given incriminating evidence against the suspect.

Oleh Maltsev was detained in September 2024. At that time, the SBU military counterintelligence and the State Bureau of Investigation reported the neutralization of a Russian military intelligence task force in Odesa. More than 70 firearms with optical sights and ammunition, as well as body armor, helmets, ballistic goggles and other tactical equipment were seized from the detainees. Oleg Maltsev was named as the resident (senior) agent of the Russian group.

Кирило Бойко