In the 38 months since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces have killed 12 reporters, kidnapped 29, and threatened or intimidated 129.
This statement was originally published on imi.org.ua on 24 April 2025.
In the three years and two months since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed 833 crimes against journalists and the media in Ukraine, as evidenced by the Monitoring Study of Russia’s Crimes Against Journalists and the Media, which the Institute of Mass Information has been carrying out since the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The IMI recorded four crimes against the media and journalists committed by Russia in March-April 2025. These included damaging media offices and cyber attacks.
Russia’s crimes against journalists and the media in Ukraine
Russian shelling strikes resulted in damage and destruction of several media offices in Kyiv, Sumy, and Poltava:
- in Kyiv, the buildings that had housed the offices of the TV channels Dim and FREEDOM were severely damaged in a Russian ballistic missile strike, destroying the new FREEDOM newsroom and the top three floors of the business center housing the international broadcasting channels.
- in Sumy, the CUKR office and the Sumy Press Club were damaged. The strike also destroyed a photo exhibition by Kordon.Media at the Congress Center.
- in Poltava, the Poltavska Khvylia office was damaged (the shock wave damaged the office’s ceiling, deformed the lighting fixtures, and partially destroyed the interior structures).
The Institute of Mass Information was targeted in a cyber attack, receiving multiple phishing emails from hackers affiliated with Russian intelligence. The emails were sent by the hacker group UAC-0050, which is affiliated with the Russian intelligence services. The phishing emails had the name of the NGO listed in the subject line, which made them stand out from similar emails the IMI has received in the past. The emails included an attachment with link to a zip document containing malicious files. Both emails were signed by a “chief accountant” addressing the IMI’s finance department with a demand to sign some documents and submit copies of them.
Read the full monitoring study here.
The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) is a Ukrainian non-governmental media organization that has been operating since 1996. The IMI defends the rights of journalists, analyzes the media field and covers media-related events, fights propaganda and disinformation and has been providing media outlets with safety gear for trips to the combat zone since the start of the Russo–Ukrainian war in 2014.
The IMI carries out Ukraine’s only freedom of speech monitoring and keeps a list of high quality and sustainable online media outlets, documents Russia’s crimes against the media committed in the course of the war on Ukraine. The IMI has representatives in 20 oblasts of Ukraine and a network of “Mediabaza” hubs to provide journalists with continuous support. The IMI’s partners include Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House; the organization is a member of IFEX.
