Ukraine / Europe & Central Asia

Paris, September 23, 2022—Ukrainian and Russian authorities must investigate whether journalists covering the war in Ukraine were targeted because of their work and take steps to ensure their safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Saturday, September 17, Alejandro Kirk, a reporter for Venezuela-based television network Telesur, was injured by Ukrainian shelling while…

Paris, September 13, 2022 – In response to media reports that Ukraine’s parliament passed in its first reading on August 30 a media bill that threatens to restrict press freedom, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling for the bill to be dropped: “Ukraine’s media bill seriously imperils press freedom in the country by tightening government…

Paris, September 9, 2022 – In response to news reports that Italian freelance journalist Mattia Sorbi was injured and his unnamed driver was killed when the two reportedly drove over a mine in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: “CPJ is saddened by the death of…

Paris, August 25, 2022—Russian authorities in Crimea must drop all charges against journalist Vilen Temeryanov, release him immediately, and stop prosecuting members of the press in retaliation for their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On August 11, officers with the Russian FSB security agency in the village of Vilne, in Russian-occupied Crimea,…

Paris, July 28, 2022 – Ukrainian legislators should revise a draft media law that threatens to restrict press freedom in the country and would move it away from European Union standards, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On July 1, Olga Gerasimyuk, the head of Ukraine’s National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting, the…

Paris, July 25, 2022 — Ukrainian and Russian authorities should ensure that artillery attacks do not damage civilian infrastructure, including media offices, and let the press report freely and safely on the war in Ukraine, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On July 15, Russian forces shelled the editorial office of Zorya, a newspaper…

For journalists operating in hostile environments, having the correct safety equipment such as helmets and flak jackets can be the difference between life and death. Nowhere has this been clearer than in Ukraine, where personal protective equipment (PPE) is in short supply, and where journalists have been gravely – and even fatally – injured throughout…

Paris, July 6, 2022 – Ukrainian and Russian authorities should ensure that all journalists covering the war in Ukraine can work freely and safely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Monday, July 4, Andrei Alekseyev, an assistant camera operator with the Russian public broadcaster TV Centre, was hit by shrapnel in his head…

Ruslan Smieshchuk, a reporter for privately owned Ukrainian TV channel Inter, had long dreamed of being a war correspondent when he covered his first conflict, the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, for local Odessa TV channel ATV. Now he hopes that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will be his last battlefield assignment. “War is a lot of pain and grief,” he told CPJ.   The 38-year-old…

New York, June 30, 2022 – Ukrainian authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate threats recently received by journalists Sevgil Musaieva and Sonia Lukashova, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Musaieva, chief editor of the independent Ukrainian news website Ukrainska Pravda, and Lukashova, a correspondent for the outlet, have received threatening phone calls and online…