Media reports have established that Opanasenko has formally taken a job as a public relations manager at the mentioned LLC. However, he is listed there fictitiously, as other employees have never seen him in the office on Predslavynska Street in Kyiv.
Prior to this, the journalist evaded updating his information in the TCC for two years. He only did so in May 2024, after the law imposing criminal liability for failing to update data came into effect. At that time, Opanasenko was first registered for military service, receiving the rank of "soldier."
Furthermore, the media revealed that the official income of the journalist's family is significantly lower than the assets they own.
“Opanasenko is not the only activist involved in a new social phenomenon known in the business world as 'shabuning.' This term describes representatives of the civil sector who, while urging others to fight and supporting mobilization, themselves evade military service, avoid receiving summonses, leave units without permission, or falsify documents about their alleged service,” the publication notes.
It is worth mentioning that the SBI is investigating a number of criminal cases against Vitaliy Shabunin, the head of the Anti-Corruption Action Center: in particular, for evading mobilization, document forgery related to the NABU, illegal use of humanitarian aid, and misappropriation of a Nissan Pathfinder jeep.
According to media reports, other individuals avoiding military service include the head of the DEJURE foundation, Mykhailo Zhernakov; Orest Ruda, husband of the co-founder of the CPC Daria Kaleniuk; chief expert at StateWatch Oleksandr Lemenov; editor-in-chief of the "Chesno" movement Oleksandr Salizhenko; journalists Yuriy Butusov, Yuriy Nikolov, Maksym Savchuk; editor-in-chief of "NV" Vitaliy Sych; husband of the Kyiv office head of "Radio Svoboda," Natalia Sedletska, Serhiy Yakob; and others.