Ukraine / Europe & Central Asia

  
A man mourns over the body of Palestinian media worker Ahmed Abu Mutair, killed in an Israeli strike in the town of Zuwaida in the central Gaza Strip on October 19, 2025., nine days after a ceasefire agreement took effect. (Photo: AFP/Bashar Taleb)

Press killings in 2025 equal record high of 126 killed in 2024

New York, December 10, 2025一With more than three weeks still to go to the end of the year, the number of journalists and media workers killed worldwide in 2025 already equals 2024’s record figures, data gathered by the Committee to Protect Journalists shows. Led by Israel’s attacks on journalists in Gaza, Iran, and Yemen, the…

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Crimean journalist Vilen Temeryanov sentenced to 14 years in jail

New York, November 26, 2025—Russian authorities should immediately release Crimean Tatar journalist Vilen Temeryanov and end their crackdown on independent voices in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.  On November 26, the Southern District Military Court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don convicted Temeryanov on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization and preparing for a violent…

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Journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko (second from right) and Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator (second from left), join other guests at an October 2025 panel in Prague on the plight of Ukrainian journalists in Russian captivity.

‘Life goes on without you’: Q&A with Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko

Captured by Russian security services and sentenced on false charges, Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko spent over four years in a Russian prison, enduring torture while trying to maintain his sanity and physical strength.  Yesypenko, who covered Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea for the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), was released in June. He was first detained by Russian authorities…

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Reporter Ibrahim Naber was part of a WELT crew hit by a drone on October 13, 2025. All three men suffered minor injuries.

Russian drone attacks German TV crew reporting in Ukraine

New York, October 29, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for a thorough investigation into a recent Russian attack in Ukraine, which wounded Ivan Zakharenko, a local producer with German media group WELT.  “The Russian attack on WELT journalists, which injured Ukrainian producer Ivan Zakharenko, is yet another illustration of the extraordinary risks journalists face while…

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A Russian drone strike killed Ukrainian journalists Olena Hramova, 43, and Yevhen Karmazin, 33, while they were reporting on a previous attack.

Russian drone attack kills 2 Ukrainian journalists

New York, October 23, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for a thorough investigation into the killing of Ukrainian journalists Olena Hramova, 43, and Yevhen Karmazin, 33, in a Russian drone attack on October 23, 2025.  “CPJ is deeply saddened and outraged by the killing of Ukrainian journalists Olena Hramova and Yevhen Karmazin in a Russian drone strike,” said…

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French photojournalist Antoni Lallican had covered the war in Ukraine since March 2022.

Russian drone kills French journalist Antoni Lallican in Ukraine

New York, October 3, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing of French photojournalist Antoni Lallican in a Russian drone attack on Friday.  “CPJ is deeply alarmed by the Russian drone strike that killed French journalist Antoni Lallican and injured Ukrainian photojournalist Heorhii Ivanchenko, and calls on Russian and Ukrainian authorities to immediately investigate…

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Ukrainian journalist Heorhiy Levchenko is seen behind bars after his arrest in August 2023.

Russian court jails Ukrainian journalist Heorhiy Levchenko for 16 years

New York, September 4, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Russian authorities to free Ukrainian journalist Heorhiy Levchenko, who has been sentenced to 16 years in a high security penal colony for treason and extremism. “After capturing Ukrainian journalist Heorhiy Levchenko two years ago in retaliation for his brave reporting on the war from the occupied…

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The offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty were damaged in an August 28, 2025, drone and missile attack.

Russian strikes on Ukraine damage 3 media outlets 

New York, August 28, 2025—A massive, early morning Russian attack on Ukraine damaged the offices of at least three news outlets on August 28, 2025. In Kyiv, the offices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and independent news outlet Ukrainska Pravda were damaged in a drone and missile attack. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, in eastern Ukraine, a drone strike damaged the office of local newspaper Mezhivsky Merydian. No media…

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Serhiy

Ukrainian journalist assaulted after report on mishandled corpses

New York, March 28, 2025—Ukrainian authorities should swiftly investigate a recent attack in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on a journalist apparently targeted because of his outlet’s online investigation that found a funeral company mishandled corpses, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. “CPJ condemns the assault on a journalist in Kryvyi Rih,…

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Tetyana Kulyk

Ukrainian journalist Tetyana Kulyk killed by Russian drone in Kyiv region

New York, February 26, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing of Ukrainian journalist Tetyana Kulyk, editor-in-chief of the multimedia editorial department of state news agency Ukrinform, in a Russian drone attack on February 26. “The Russian drone strike that killed Ukrainian journalist Tetyana Kulyk just days after the grim three-year milestone of Russia’s…

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