Already 21 journalists and media persons were killed (local and international both), dozens wounded.

22.04.2022. UKRAINE. 5th report on the State of Media in Ukraine during the War (April 12-22) – The besieged and destroyed Ukrainian Mariupol in the spotlight by Andrii Ianitsky, PEC representative in Ukraine

Lviv (Ukraine), 22 April 2022.
Key Ukrainian topics in the media: Russian warship and Mariupol The first big news story for both Ukrainian and world media was the death of the flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea “Moskva” (literally “Moscow”), allegedly from Ukrainian missiles. Until now, neither the exact number of dead Russian sailors, nor the exact circumstances of the sinking of the warship are known. But the fact of the destruction of the craft is recognized by both sides of the war.

The second dramatic line concerns the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol in the south of the country. Russian troops control almost the entire territory of the city, except for the industrial zone of the Azovstal metallurgical plant. According to the mayor of the city, Vadym Boychenko, there are still over 1,000 civilians and several hundred Ukrainian soldiers in the basements of the plant.

Both stories, as well as the lack of information about what is happening in the Russian-occupied territories in southern Ukraine, raise the difficult issue of access to truthful information during the war. Journalists often have to blindly rely on the words of their sources, since it is impossible to verify information under conditions of war or occupation. This makes journalists and their audiences vulnerable to propaganda. Investigative journalists are the best at this challenge, thanks to their skills in analyzing social networks, satellite images, documents, databases, and previously verified sources.

The death toll of media persons in the war is on the rise

Already 21 journalists and media persons were killed (local and international both), dozens wounded.

The list of killed journalists in the line of duty:
1. Yevhen Sakun, cameraman of LIVE TV channel (died on March 1 during the Russian rocket attack on the TV tower in Kyiv);
2. Brent Renaud, a former correspondent for The New York Times (shot dead by Russians on March 13 in Irpen at a checkpoint);
3. 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).
4. 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).
5. Oksana Baulina, a journalist for Russia’s The Insider and Oleksiy Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (killed on March 23 during an Russian shelling in Kyiv while performing an editorial assignment).
6. Dilerbek Shakirov, a civilian journalist of the information weekly “Around You” (was shot dead by Russians at a blockpost in the suburbs of Kherson on February 26)
7. Viktor Diedov, cameraman of Sigma TV from Mariupol (died on March 11 as a result of shelling of his house)
8. Maks Levin, famous Ukrainian photojournalist, has not been heard from since 13 March, when he was reporting in the Vyshgorod district, north of Kyiv. On April 2 he was found dead in the Kyiv region in places of massacre of civilians.
9. Eugene Bal, 78 yo journalism veteran, died near Mariupol on April 2. He was kidnapped and tortured by the Russian military for three days in late March. After his release, his health deteriorated and he died.
10.Olexander Lytkin, journalist dtp.kiev.ua. The circumstances of his death are unknown. His name among the dead was published by the office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine without details.
11. Roman Nezhyborets, video technician was killed in the Ukrainian village of Yahidne. His body was found by Ukrainian volunteers on 6 April after Russian troops withdrew from the area. Nezhyborets’ body had gunshot wounds in the knees and his hands were tied.
12.Zoreslav Zamoysky, local residents in Bucha found his body on a street in the city in early April, according to statements by the Ukrainian National Union of Journalists (NUJU) and the Irpin city council. Those sources did not state the exact date his body was found.

Journalists who were killed not in the line of duty (as soldiers or volunteers).

13.Victor Dudar, who was a military journalist and served as a part of the Armed forces, was killed in battle on March 6, near Mykolaiv.
14.Oleg Yakunin, the editor of the Zaporizhia site Misto.zp.ua, was killed in battle on March 25 on military service.
15.Yuriy Oliynyk, the operator of the 24th channel was killed in battle on March
23 in the Luhansk oblast, near Popasna. Yuriy was a volunteer in the 24 separate mechanized brigade named after King Danylo.
16.Pasha Lee, Ukrainian actor and TV host, has been killed by shelling in the city
of Irpin.
17.Serhyi Pushenko, graphic artist and painter who worked with media, killed by Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in Kyiv region on 2 March.
18.Sergey Zaikovsky, publicist and translator who worked with media, killed in Kyiv region on 24 March.
19.Denis Kotenko, one of press-officers of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, killed in Kyiv region on 24 March. Killed media persons (people who are connected with the media, but were not
directly journalists):
20.Mantas Kvedaravičius, Lithuanian documentary filmmaker and director of the Mariupol film about the war in Donbass, died on April 3 in Mariupol.
21.Lilia Gumyanova, a journalism teacher was killed by Russian shelling in Mariupol on March 19.

Freedom of speech in Ukraine

In our last reports, we wrote how Ukrainian authorities have tightened control over the media in Ukraine during a war time.

Unfortunately, the situation remains the same. Three national news channels with varying ties to former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko have been taken off the digital air. They continue to broadcast on satellite, cable networks and online, but have lost, according to various estimates, from 20 to 40 percent of their audience. (Disclosure: the report’s author also works for a TV channel that has been taken offline from digital broadcasting)

Other national news channels (both private and public) work together and create the United News. These news are broadcast on the frequencies of at least six TV channels and at least one radio station, as well as on the public services digital platform Diia.

Thus, the Ukrainian authorities may be trying to reduce the intensity of criticism after possible truce agreements with Russia. At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky limits the media influence of his political rival, former President Poroshenko.

Another problem is the crisis of local media in Ukraine. Because of the war, many local newsrooms from the east and south of the country were forced to leave for safer western regions. Some of the journalists went to defend their homeland in the army, the other part changed their profession or temporarily stopped working and solves everyday problems associated with relocation.

According to Eugene Zaslavsky, executive director of the Media Development Foundation, a non-governmental organization, today local media need not only material support and help with relocation. Such editorial offices are losing contact with the communities that they wrote about earlier, they are losing access to sources and their qualified personnel. And new employees of such editorial offices often need intensive training.

It is especially difficult for publications from the territories occupied by Russia to work. But even after the liberation of such territories, the material and technical base of such media is destroyed, and their work is complicated for various reasons. For example, because of the mined lands in previously peaceful cities.

Andrii Ianitsky is journalist now based in Lviv and PEC Representative in Ukraine
(a.ianitskyi@gmail.com)
His first report was published on 19 March 2022, the second on 28 March 2022, the
third on 5 April 2022, fourth on 11 April (read below