Petition urging Zelensky to talk to independent media registered on 6th attempt, gains 7,000 signatures in a day

An online petition requesting that the president hold a press conference with independent media was registered on the sixth try on Aug. 27.

The petition, created by activist Anna Repina, asks that the President's Office hold an "open press conference with the invitation of representatives of independent and socially responsible media," including the Kyiv Independent, where journalists can ask President Volodymyr Zelensky "questions without prior approval of their content."

Repina did not expect her petition to be approved by the President's Office, since at least five similar petitions had been rejected in the past week. "Without continuous effort, there are no results," Repina told the Kyiv Independent about her motivation to send the petition.

"If the authorities ignore us, that doesn't mean we'll stop taking action — it only makes our movement more widespread," said Repina.

The Kyiv Independent's War Crime Investigative reporter Danylo Mokryk filed the first such petition on Aug.18 after the president had launched a government reshuffle, fired a popular defense minister, witnessed street protests, and appointed a new minister without public hearing.

"They (protesters) started recording video messages, tagging me on social media. So I finally responded to it. Well, the problem is that Volodymyr Zelensky's last open press conference was in February 2025," said Mokryk.

Protests sparked across the country as former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov was unexpectedly dismissed from his post in mid-July. The subsequent demonstrations were the largest Ukraine has seen since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.

As a result of the protests, former Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, was removed from his position. Nevertheless, protests continued for over a month to insist that Fedorov be returned as defense minister and an open dialogue be established with the public.

The need for improved, increasingly transparent communication between Ukrainians and their government has been a dominant topic in recent months. "Сonversations, not speeches" was one of the leading chants during the protests across Ukraine in July and August.

Zelensky has not held a major press conference with independent media since early 2025, solemnly opting for exclusive interviews with foreign media giants. Such behavior came to the attention of protesters demanding a change in the governmental relationship with the Ukrainian public and the free press.

"It was very noticeable that he finds time to give an interview to foreign outlets like Sky News, but none for Ukrainian journalists," said Mokryk.

Ukrainian media have said that the reasoning for that would be that foreign media are more focused on international relations, while the president also needs to answer questions about domestic affairs — government reshuffles, reforms, corruption probes, mobilization, and other issues.

The president has instead resorted to sporadic off-the-record meetings with Ukrainian and foreign journalists, and has occasionally answered journalists’ questions via WhatsApp. None of these interactions have been held regularly, while the questions answered and journalists invited are arbitrary. The Kyiv Independent has participated in these meetings.

Electronic petitions are an important part of the democratic process in Ukraine, notes Mokryk.

He was surprised to see his petition rejected, as he had previously had successful appeals. In 2021, Mokryk submitted a request to dissolve the District Administrative Court of Kyiv due to its involvement in corruption scandals.

"It resulted in the president submitting a bill to the Verkhovna Rada, showing accompanying documents, which were submitted based on the results of this petition."

At the time of publishing, a day after going live, Repina's petition had over 7,000 signatures. It must get 25,000 within three months to be officially reviewed by the authorities.

"Depending on the answers — and whether we receive them at all — we'll decide how to proceed," says Repina about the future of her petition and the proposed dialogue.