Ihor Lachenkov

Lachenkov in December 2022

Ihor Borysovych Lachenkov (Ukrainian: Ігор Борисович Лаченко; born 14 June 1999) is a Ukrainian Influencer, blogger, volunteer[1] and the author of the Telegram channel Lachen writes,[a] covering the war in Ukraine.[2] He is also a co-initiator of the People's Bayraktar project with Serhiy Prytula.[3]

In 2022, he was included in the "30 under 30: Faces of the Future" by Forbes Ukraine.[4][5]

Biography

Education

He was born on 14 June 1999 in Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro). His father is a lawyer and his mother is a judge.[6] He attended School 23, and later enrolled at the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in ‘Justice and Law’.[2] He also has an unfinished degree in economics from Karazin Kharkiv National University.[7]

Volunteering

In 2019, he began running Telegram channels:[7] he set up the news project ProDnipro which covers news from Dnipro, and a humorous Telegram channel Bro Posted a Meme.[2]

On 10 January 2022, he created the channel Lachen Writes, where he began publishing news.[2] The project team consists of three people.[8] The day before the full-scale Russian invasion, the channel had 50–60 thousand subscribers; it subsequently gained a large audience rapidly, and by the end of 2022 had over a million readers. Ihor regularly organises fundraisers for the Ukrainian Armed Forces; until October 2022, 228 million hryvnias had been raised.[2][9][10]

In June 2022, together with Serhiy Prytula, he launched the ‘People’s Bayraktar’ project, which raised 600 million hryvnias.[11][3] Baykar Makina decided to donate the three drones that were to be purchased with the funds raised free of charge. Instead, the funds raised were used to purchase access to an artificial satellite in Earth orbit for use by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.[12][13][14]

In June 2022, Igor Lachenkov and his team launched a hashtag campaign on Twitter under the hashtag #RussiaIsATerroristState.[15]

In 2022, he was named in Forbes Ukraine’s ‘30 Under 30: Faces of the Future’ list.[16][17]

In October 2022, in collaboration with Monobank and United24, he launched a fundraising campaign to raise 100 million hryvnias for ‘Shahed Hunter’ — a system designed to counter Iranian Shahed 131 drones.[1][18][19] According to Oleg Gorokhovsky, co-founder of Monobank, four out of the five largest fundraising campaigns at the bank were organised in collaboration with Igor Lachenkov during Russia’s full-scale invasion.[20][21]

In December 2022, he was among the Ukrainians invited to the European Parliament for the presentation of the Sakharov Prize to the Ukrainian people.[22]

Scandals

In September 2024, Svitlana Kryukova, a former deputy editor at the publication Strana, filed a lawsuit against Lachenkov to defend her honour, dignity and professional reputation.[23][24]

In April 2026, the court ordered Igor to pay Kryukova 1 hryvnia in ‘compensation for non-pecuniary damage’ and 2,422 hryvnias in court fees.[25]

Awards and honours

  • 2023 — Medal ‘For Contributions to Ukrainian Military Intelligence’, 2nd Class, awarded by Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate.[26]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ukrainian: Лачен пише, romanized: Lachen pyshe

References

  1. 1 2 ""The Drone Catcher". Monobank, UNITED24 and blogger Ihor Lachenkov are raising 100 million hryvnias for a drone defence system — Forbes.ua". forbes.ua (in Ukrainian). 2022-10-14. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 ""I didn't leave my flat for 21 days because of work": The author of "Lachen Writes" on the popularity of his Telegram channel". Bird In Flight (in Ukrainian). 2022-06-28. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  3. 1 2 "Blogger Lachenkov, who raised money for Bayraktars alongside Prytula, spoke about his views on Arestovych and how much he has invested in his Telegram channel". life.nv.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  4. ↑ "30 до 30: обличчя майбутнього — Forbes.ua". forbes.ua (in Ukrainian). Forbes Ukraine. 2022-08-22. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
  5. ↑ "Хто з дніпрян увійшов до списку найвпливовіших людей журналу Forbes? - dneprovskiye.info" (in Ukrainian). 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
  6. ↑ "Lachen: "What does the end of the war mean for us?"". КУСТ (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Blogger Igor Lachenkov (Lachen): We must not have any terrorist parties. Anything associated with the 'Russian World' is terrorism". Українська правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  8. ↑ "How much do top Ukrainian bloggers earn on Telegram? The founders of the channels 'Lachen Writes', 'First Private Meme Factory' and 'Novinach' reveal all". dev.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  9. ↑ ""I've developed 'deferred life syndrome'." 10 facts about Lachen, who helped Prytula raise 600 million hryvnias for Bayraktar drones". dev.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  10. ↑ "Which Ukrainian blogger has donated the most to the Ukrainian Armed Forces?". КУСТ (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  11. ↑ ""The more absurd the Russian narrative on the tragedies in Ukraine is, the better it works in Russia" – an interview with Igor Lachenkov, founder of "Lachen Writes"". Новини України - #Букви. 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  12. ↑ Романенко, Валентина (18 August 2022). ""There will be a lot of noise": Charity foundation buys satellite with money raised by Ukrainians". www.pravda.com.ua. Ukrainska Pravda.
  13. ↑ Alaeva, Liliia (2022-08-18). "The Ukrainian military gained control of SAR satellite". Журнал The Universemagazine Space Tech. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  14. ↑ "ICEYE Provides Ukraine with Access to Its SAR Satellite Constellation". www.iceye.com. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  15. ↑ Shulzhenko, Daria (2024-04-05). "How Ukrainian social media influencer raised over $50 million for military thanks to 'typing'". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  16. ↑ "30 до 30: обличчя майбутнього — Forbes.ua". forbes.ua (in Ukrainian). Forbes Україна. 2022-08-22. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  17. ↑ "Which Dnipro residents have made it onto Forbes magazine's list of the most influential people? - dneprovskiye.info" (in Ukrainian). 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  18. ↑ ""It's the disappointment of the year." Igor Lachenkov spoke about *The Martyr Hunter*, for which a fundraising campaign has been launched, and commented on Elon Musk's statements". life.nv.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  19. ↑ ""The Martyr Hunter": Ukrainians are raising 100 million for anti-drone systems". Економічна правда (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  20. ↑ "'Revenge', 'The People's Bayraktar' and 'The Martyr Hunter'. Gorokhovsky spoke to mono about the largest volunteer 'banks' — Forbes.ua". forbes.ua (in Ukrainian). 2022-10-18. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  21. ↑ "Fundraising, Ukrainian style. Prutula, Gorokhovsky and Lachen raise hundreds of millions in a single day. What tools help them turn anger into money — Forbes.ua". forbes.ua (in Ukrainian). 2022-11-01. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  22. ↑ Shulzhenko, Daria (2024-04-05). "How Ukrainian social media influencer raised over $50 million for military thanks to 'typing'". The Kyiv Independent. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  23. ↑ Чорна, Ольга (2024-09-10). "Svetlana Kryukova has filed a lawsuit for the protection of her honour and dignity against bloggers Igor Lachenkov, Roman Sinitsyn and Yevgeny Pronin". detector.media (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  24. ↑ "A journalist from *Strana* has taken legal action against Igor Lachenkov, alleging that he has defamed her". 24 Канал (in Ukrainian). 2024-09-10. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  25. ↑ "One hryvnia in compensation for emotional distress: journalist Kryukova wins court case against blogger Lachenkov". РБК-Украина (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2026-06-01.
  26. ↑ "Who is Lachen and who made him famous?". РБК-Україна (in Ukrainian). 2024-04-01. Retrieved 2026-06-01.
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