Vadym Novynskyi to sue Zelensky for defamation

Vadym Novynskyi. Photo: novynskyi.com

Former MP and protodeacon of the UOC, Vadym Novynskyi, called President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent remarks a “blatant defamatory attack,” after Zelensky accused him of allegedly urging the president to surrender Ukraine and flee the country. On the evening of May 13, 2025, Novynskyi published a rebuttal on his website.

Earlier the same day, President Zelensky had stated that “Ukraine received multiple ultimatums from Russia, directly from Putin.” According to Zelensky, Vadym Novynskyi was among those who “represented Putin’s interests, speaking directly with me over the phone during the most critical moments, when we were under blockade. They were telling me how we should surrender our territory, the country, and so on – how and where I should flee, or else I wouldn’t survive, nor would my family.”

Novynskyi noted that this claim was picked up by media outlets controlled by the Presidential Office, which began alleging that at the onset of the war, he had tried to “persuade Mr. Zelensky to capitulate.”

The protodeacon reminded Zelensky that, in the early days of the war, it was at Zelensky’s own request that he contacted several individuals in Russia to help facilitate the negotiation process between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Gomel.

“At no point did I suggest fleeing, surrendering, or taking any other such actions – the discussions solely concerned a framework for negotiations ahead of a meeting between the delegations of Ukraine and Russia. I would also remind Mr. Zelensky of what I told him at the time: ‘Mr. President, your two main tasks are to save Ukrainian lives and to preserve Ukrainian statehood.’ As the past three years have shown, he has achieved neither,” Novynskyi stated.

He emphasized his right to demand the release of full and unaltered recordings of his telephone conversations with Zelensky and other participants in the process.

“In this situation, I believe Volodymyr Zelensky has acted with absolute insolence and blatant slander toward me. Until now, I refrained from mentioning many unassuming details involving the country’s top leadership in the early days of the war, but Mr. Zelensky’s statements compel me to disclose certain facts that do no credit to him or to many in his inner circle,” Novynskyi said.

He also announced that he reserves the right to file a lawsuit against Zelensky “to protect my honor and dignity from these crude and false accusations.”

As previously reported by the UOJ, Protodeacon Vadym Novynskyi earlier commented on the state seizure of the Near and Far Caves of the Kyiv Lavra and the work of the commission investigating the relics of the Pechersk saints.

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