Recently, I have witnessed a wave of publications that negatively affect my reputation and the source of which is the material of the Ukrainian Department of the international non-profit organization "Radio Liberty" . Thus, on March 3, 2026, the article "For the Kremlin: a Ukrainian political scientist and Russian state studies of "Russophobia" and "xenophobia" in the midst of war" was published on the Radio Liberty website as part of the Radio Liberty investigative project "Schemes" by Oleksandra Levchak and Anna Myroniuk. Radio Liberty also published repeated materials on the same topic, and reprints of the article were published in the publications " Censor.NET ", NV and others.
The publication does not indicate any facts or evidence that Ruslan Bortnik participates in research, provides expert assessments, cooperates in any way, or receives funding from the aggressor country, since such evidence does not exist.
Ruslan Bortnik never received any Russian funding, did not grant permission to use his name and brand of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics, and was not aware that his name (brand) could be used on the territory of the aggressor country. In addition, Ruslan Bortnik has never been a co-author of any publication in the Russian Federation. Possible citations of research using his name or the Ukrainian Institute of Politics brand in the Russian Federation are theft of intellectual property from open Ukrainian or international sources.
The arbitrary attribution or even attempts to link Ukrainian political expert Ruslan Bortnik to any Russian structures or institutions without proper, reliable and verified evidence is not only groundless, but also directly violates fundamental human rights guarantees, in particular the right to respect for honor, dignity and business reputation. Such actions contradict the basic principles of a democratic society, in which every person has the right to an objective and impartial assessment of his or her activities, as well as to protection from the dissemination of inaccurate information with Russian subtext.
Ruslan Bortnik confirms that he has participated in the preparation of the Reports on Xenophobia and Anti-Semitism every year for the past 23 years. The said reports were prepared as an exclusively scientific publication and for the structures of the European Union, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the USA, mainly on a free basis, or with the involvement of donors from the EU countries, Israel and the USA. This work has never been financed by the Russian Federation or its representatives.
Reports on xenophobia and anti-Semitism were published on the website Ukrainian Institute of Politics ( uiamp.org ) and were freely accessible for possible use by interested persons. However, the specified reports were never transferred to any structures and institutions of the Russian Federation, nor were any persons granted the right to use them on the territory of the aggressor country in full or in fragments.
Following the publication of the aforementioned articles on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website as part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's "Schemes" investigative project , Ruslan Bortnik independently contacted the Security Service of Ukraine.
Based on the results of the personal consideration of the application, on March 19, 2026, Ruslan Bortnik voluntarily underwent a polygraph examination at the Security Service of Ukraine regarding cooperation with the Russian Federation in any way, financing of his activities by the aggressor country, as well as granting permission or even being aware of the use of his name and the brand of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Ruslan Bortnik underwent a similar polygraph test on March 18, 2026, at the National Association of Polygraph Examiners of Ukraine.
The results of the above-mentioned research have indisputably established that Ruslan Bortnik and/or the Ukrainian Institute of Politics did not receive any funding from Russian sources, Ruslan Bortnik did not enter into any agreements regarding the use of his own name or the brand of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics on the territory of the Russian Federation. It has been confirmed that Ruslan Bortnik did not transfer reports on xenophobia and anti-Semitism to Russian structures, did not grant permission in any way for the publication of his own materials in the Russian Federation. In addition, it has been proven that Ruslan Bortnik did not visit the territory of the Russian Federation after 2014, after the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine, that is, after February 24, 2022, he did not comment on any events to the Russian media. Ruslan Bortnik does not cooperate and did not cooperate with the special services of foreign states.
Thus, the materials published on March 3, 2026 on the Radio Liberty website as part of the "Schemes" project regarding Ruslan Bortnik do not contain any proper and admissible evidence of his cooperation with the Russian Federation or receipt of funding from its sources, since such circumstances do not correspond to reality. Ruslan Bortnik denies any involvement in the activities of Russian structures, emphasizes the lack of permission to use his name or the brand of the Ukrainian Institute of Politics, and confirms that his scientific activities, in particular the preparation of reports on xenophobia and anti-Semitism, were carried out within the framework of his own scientific research program and international programs of the USA, the EU, the Council of Europe, and the OSCE.
Therefore, taking into account the above, on March 20, 2026, I officially appealed to Radio Liberty, " Censor.NET ", NV and other media outlets with a demand to publish a refutation of the inaccurate publications. Otherwise, I will be forced to consider other legal ways to achieve justice, including material claims.
Ruslan BORTNIK
