As of 24 March, five journalists had been killed, one had gone missing and at least six had been kidnapped. Approximately 70 regional media outlets had also been forced to shut down as a result of Russia's offensive against Ukraine.
This statement was originally published on imi.org.ua on 24 March 2022.
Russia committed 148 crimes against journalists and the media in Ukraine in the last month, since the beginning of its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, from February 24 to March 23, 2022.
These are the monitoring data of the Institute of Mass Information in all regions of Ukraine.
As of March 24, five journalists had been killed while fulfilling their professional activities, seven journalists were injured and one had gone missing. IMI is aware of at least six cases of Ukrainian journalists being taken hostage and ill-treated by Russian forces. The occupiers fired onto 10 TV towers, which are civilian targets, causing the complete or temporary disappearance of television and radio broadcasting in eight regions of Ukraine. In addition, at least 70 regional media outlets were forced to shut down due to threats from the Russian occupiers, the seizure of newsrooms, the inability to work under temporary occupation, a lack of opportunities for printing and distribution, and so on.
During the thirty days since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, five journalists in Kyiv and its suburbs have been killed in the line of duty. In particular, these are:
- Yevhen Sakun, cameraman of LIVE TV channel (died on March 1 during the Russian rocket attack on the TV tower in Kyiv)
- Brent Renaud, a former correspondent for The New York Times (shot dead by Russians on March 13 in Irpen at a checkpoint)
- Pierre Zakrzewski, cameraman for Fox News, an Irish citizen (killed on March 14 during an artillery shelling by Russian troops in the village of Gorenka, Kyiv region)
- Oleksandra Kuvshynova, Ukrainian producer, journalist (killed on March 14 together with Pierre Zakrzewski during an artillery shelling by Russian troops in the village of Gorenka, Kyiv region)
- Oksana Baulina, a journalist for Russia’s The Insider and Oleksiy Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (killed on March 23 during a Russian shelling in Kyiv, while performing an editorial assignment).
Three more journalists were killed as a result of Russian shelling or shooting, but not in the wake of their journalistic duties. In particular, the other victims are Dilerbek Shakirov, a civilian journalist of the information weekly “Around You” (he was shot dead by Russians at a blockpost in the suburbs of Kherson on February 26); Viktor Dudar, a military journalist (who died on March 6 during battles with Russian invaders near Mykolayiv), and Sigma TV operator Viktor Dedov (who died in Mariupol on March 11 as a result of shelling of his house).
Photojournalist Maksym Levin, who covered the fighting near Kyiv, disappeared on March 13, his fate remains unknown.
At least seven journalists in Kyiv, Sumy, and Mykolayiv were injured as a result of shooting or shelling by the Russian occupiers:
- two Danish journalists from Ekstra-Bladet – journalist Stefan Weichert and photographer Emil Filtenborg (were injured on February 26 in the Sumy region near the town of Okhtyrka, when their car came under Russian fire);
- the correspondent of the British TV channel Sky News Stuart Ramsay (was wounded in the shelling by Russian troops in Bucha in Kyiv region on February 28. Channel operator Richie Mockler was saved as he was wearing a bulletproof vest);
- Swiss journalist Guillaume Briquet (wounded on March 6 in the Mykolaiv region as a result of the Russian shelling of the car in which he was. He was also robbed by Russians. At the same time, the occupiers clearly saw the “press” sign on his car);
- Radio Liberty correspondent Marian Kushnir (wounded in the March 11 Russian rocket attack near Kyiv);
- American journalist Juan Diego Herrera Arredondo (wounded on March 13 in Irpen near Kyiv, as a result of shelling by Russian troops);
- Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall (was hospitalized with a serious injury he received as a result of Russian shelling on March 14, while preparing a report near Kyiv).
Journalists came under Russian fire mainly in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhya. Hromadske journalist Victoria Roshchina came under Russian fire in Zaporizhzhya. Two Czech Voxpot journalists, Maida Slamova and Vojtech Bogach, were also shelled by Russian troops. In addition, TSN, ICTV’s Fakty and Nastoyaschego Vremya TV crews came under Russian fire in the Kyiv region.
IMI has recorded at least six attacks involving the capture and abduction of journalists by the Russian occupiers. Four of these cases took place in the temporarily occupied territories – in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhya Oblast (kidnapping of journalists and the publisher of the newspaper Melitopolski Vedomosti, the hostage-taking of the father of a RIA-Melitopol journalist) and Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson Region (Oleg Baturyn). Also in Zaporizhzhya region, Hromadske journalist Victoria Roshchyna was taken prisoner by members of the Russian FSB.
The occupiers fired on 10 TV towers in eight regions of Ukraine: in Melitopol (Zaporizhzhya region), Kyiv and the village of Vynarivka (Kyiv region), Kharkiv (the TV tower was hit twice), Rivne, Vinnytsia, Korosten (Zhytomyr region), Lysychansk (Luhansk region), Bilopillya (Sumy region). As a result of Russian air strikes, Ukrainian broadcasting has completely or partially disappeared in these regions.
In addition, the occupiers seized Ukrainian media outlets and switched on Russian channels. In particular, the Russian occupiers forcibly shut down Kherson and Melitopol from Ukrainian broadcasting, and the occupiers mined the UA:Public broadcasting corporation building in Kherson.
IMI has also recorded numerous DDoS attacks on Ukrainian online media and NGO sites covering Russia’s war against Ukraine. Media sites were hacked, their news changed, and Russian symbols or calls to surrender were posted. In particular, the sites of the UA:Suspilne, NV, Channel 5, Babel, Lutsk’s Konkurent website, Poltava Wave publication, Kherson-based newspaper Novyi Den, the financial publication Minfin.com.ua, Kherson edition of MOST, the website of the Espresso TV channel, etc., came under attack. In addition, IMI recorded fishing attacks on Ukrainian newsrooms and journalists.
Russian crimes against journalists and media have been recorded in 14 regions of Ukraine. Most of the crimes were committed by Russian forces in Kyiv and the Kyiv region (murders, injuries, disappearances, abductions, shelling of journalists, threats, cybercrimes). In second place were the Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions, where some cities are temporary occupied by the Russian army. There were cases of abductions, attacks on journalists, threats, cybercrimes, seizure of media outlets and shutdowns of Ukrainian broadcasting outlets.
