Updated March 8, 2022
More than two million Ukrainians have fled as Russia continues missile and artillery attacks on Ukraine’s cities. At least one Ukrainian journalist has been killed in the fighting, as the Ukrainian media reports amid rockets, misinformation, and the threat of online attacks.
CPJ rounded up some of the most poignant commentary from local journalists about the invasion. (Editor’s note: The views expressed here are the journalists’ own.)
Kristina Berdynskykh, journalist at independent newsmagazine Novoye Vremya:
“I want to go back to the time when people didn’t go out on the streets in Kyiv because they were scared of contracting coronavirus, not from [fear of] the war”
Katerina Sergatskova, Editor-in-chief of independent news website Zabornaya Media:
Illia Ponomarenko, defense reporter at the Kyiv Independent, English-language Ukrainian news site funded by supporters and a grant from the European Endowment for Democracy:
Earlier tweets:
Illia Ponomarenko, defense reporter at the Kyiv Independent, English-language Ukrainian news site funded by supporters and a grant from the European Endowment for Democracy:
Kristina Berdynskykh, journalist at independent newsmagazine Novoye Vremya:
Olga Tokariuk, freelance correspondent for Spanish news agency EFE:
Illia Ponomarenko, defense reporter at the Kyiv Independent, English-language Ukrainian news site funded by supporters and a grant from the European Endowment for Democracy:
Katerina Sergatskova, editor-in-chief of independent news website Zabornaya Media:
Nataliya Gumenyuk, freelance journalist and founder of independent Ukrainian media research startup Public Interest Journalism Lab:
Kristina Berdynskykh, journalist at independent newsmagazine Novoye Vremya:
“In Kyiv, on the first day of spring and the sixth day of defense, snow fell”
Kristina Berdynskykh, journalist at independent newsmagazine Novoye Vremya:
“Evening in Kyiv. Many have left the city. The lights on many of the streets are out. We’re preparing for another night of defense.”
Nataliya Gumenyuk, freelance journalist and founder of independent Ukrainian media research startup Public Interest Journalism Lab:
Veronika Melkozerova, executive editor of independent English-language news website The New Voice of Ukraine:
Olga Rudenko, editor of Kyiv Independent, English-language Ukrainian news site funded by supporters and a grant from the European Endowment for Democracy:
“The mood here is rather grim. Even when you make eye contact with strangers in the street, you have this feeling of anxiety and grimness because the general feeling is nobody knows where is safe to be right now.”
Kristina Berdynskykh, journalist at independent newsmagazine Novoye Vremya:
“Life in Kyiv. After getting home after a night in the metro [station], you hear the sound of sirens, which means it’s time to head back to the bomb shelter.”
“Sitting in the metro with my 17-year old relative, Nastia, who is from Kherson [a city in southern Ukraine on the Black Sea]. ‘Out there where a fire burns for the right to live freely,’ she sings while we still have a signal. Kyiv is facing a terrifying night, but believes in its future.”
Nataliya Gumenyuk, freelance journalist and founder of independent Ukrainian media research startup Public Interest Journalism Lab:
Katerina Sergatskova, editor-in-chief of independent news website Zabornaya Media:
Anastasiya “Nastya” Stanko, 2018 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award, co-founder and adviser at independent media channel Hromadske:
“3:50 in the morning. My one-year-old son is asleep next to me. We’re in Kyiv. And in addition to my son, there are tens of thousands of children. Just like in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Mariupol. It’s all so unjust.”
Anastasiia Lapatina, journalist at the Kyiv Independent
Veronika Melkozerova, executive editor of independent English-language news website The New Voice of Ukraine, posting about her grandmother’s meat patties: