Director and lecturer of the capital university Andrii Bilois responded to allegations of harassment.

Lecturer at the Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television named after Ivan Karpenko-Karyj and artistic director of the Young Theatre Andrii Bilois announced his reaction to the allegations against him. In a comment to Hromadske, he stated that he had contacted the police with a statement.

“I have filed a statement with the police; they are dealing with it. I am not commenting while the investigation is ongoing,” Bilois stated.

Former students and actresses who worked with Bilois plan to file a statement with the police. Kyiv National University named after Ivan Karpenko-Karyj reported that it has initiated an internal investigation, but had not received any complaints about Bilois's actions.

It is worth noting that a girl who did not disclose her name accused the lecturer of the Kyiv National University and artistic director of the “Young Theatre” Andrii Bilois of sexual harassment. A video appeared on YouTube titled “Bilois the Rapist.” The girl claims that Bilois sent her photos of the intimate parts of other students and asked her to do the same. The university stated that it had not received any official statements about this but had contacted the police. A YouTube channel promising “full disclosure of evidence” of Bilois's harassment was created in November 2020.

The scandal has sparked reactions from Valerii Filipenko, a university alumnus, and Lidiia Soklakova, a former choreographer of the Young Theatre.

Information about Andrii Bilois

Andrii Bilois is a Ukrainian director, theatrical pedagogue, actor, and playwright. He is an Honored Artist of Ukraine and a laureate of the State Prize named after Oleksandr Dovzhenko.

He was born in Vasylkiv, Kyiv region, on April 28, 1976. Bilois studied at the Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television named after I. K. Karpenko-Karyj and has been lecturing there since 2005.

Currently, he is the artistic director of the Kyiv National Academic “Young Theatre” and teaches directing and acting skills at the university named after I. K. Karpenko-Karyj. In addition, he is the head of the “Theatrical Workshop of Andrii Bilois” at the university.

Among Bilois's productions at the Kyiv National Academic Young Theatre are: “Enchanted” (2015), “One-Armed” (2015), “Woe from Wit” (2016), “Homo Ferus or Bitch-Love!” (2018), “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (2019), “The Overcoat” (2020), “Burning Secret” (2023).

In 2017, Bilois participated in the radio show “Why are there no sex scandals in Ukraine” on Radio Freedom, where he noted that it is difficult to hide situations of harassment in the theatre, as actors spend a lot of Time together, making such things known immediately. He also stated that throughout his career, he had never encountered situations where someone offered him to resolve a problem through sex. Most of the stories circulating online are simply rumors.

Previously, there were already accusations against lecturer of the Kyiv National University of Theatre, Cinema and Television named after I. K. Karpenko-Karyj Volodymyr Talashko regarding harassment. One resident of Kyiv even claimed that he had raped her when she was a minor. After this, Talashko left the university, but the police found no evidence of a crime.

Almost two years ago, there was also a scandal at the Kyiv National University named after Taras Shevchenko, where rector Volodymyr Buhrov was accused of sexual relations with female students and young employees. It is worth noting that the accusations were anonymous, and Telegram channels and internet resources were used to publicize them.