Ukrainian soldier defends stepdaughter in monobank verification flag row

In a comment to hromadske, Kolb, who learned of the scandal from a fellow soldier who saw mentions of his name online, said he later spoke with his wife and that the family was shocked.

“Of course, it’s unpleasant for me… That jerk (Oleh Gorokhovskyi – ed.) jumped to his own conclusions without figuring out the situation,” he told hromadske.

He explained that his stepdaughter Karina and her boyfriend currently live in Germany.

According to what he was told, Karina was at a friend’s house where a Slovenian flag hung on the wall, and that was the backdrop during her video verification for monobank.

“No one in my family has ever been a separatist – I’m against them, and my kids are against them too… She has always supported Ukraine. This is just nonsense,” Kolb said.

Kolb himself is an active-duty serviceman. He was first conscripted in 2015, rejoined after the full-scale invasion in the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade’s infantry, was wounded in Kharkiv Oblast and later reassigned to a rear unit in Kharkiv.

When asked if the family plans to sue for defamation, he replied: “I think my daughter should respond, because that man (Oleh Gorokhovskyi – ed.) hasn’t apologized, hasn’t done anything, and keeps pushing his version. So I think there will be some follow-up.”

Background

Horokhovskyi posted a screenshot on Threads of a monobank user during video verification with a white-blue-red flag behind her, which he identified as Russia’s flag. The woman insisted it was Slovenia’s flag, which differs only by the coat of arms in the upper left corner.

After widespread backlash, Gorokhovskyi apologized and said conclusions had been drawn.