Russia-Ukraine War

  • A Ukrainian journalist walks among the ruins of the National Pedagogical University in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, after a Russian missile strike on July 6, 2022, destroyed the institution’s main building, lecture halls, museum and science library. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
  • A journalist walks amid the destruction after a Russian attack in Byshiv, on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, on March 27, 2022. (AP/Rodrigo Abd)
  • Journalists walk inside the rubble of a food warehouse on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine on March 29, 2022. The warehouse was destroyed in a Russian attack 12 days earlier. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
  • Ruslan Smieshchuk (right) poses with Ukrainian military press officer Iryna Rybakova while on assignment in June 2022 outside the Russian-occupied city Izyum in eastern Ukraine. (Photo: Ruslan Smieshchuk)
  • A journalist photographs smoke rising from a landmine outside of Kyiv, Ukraine on June 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
  • A handout photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on July 30, 2022, shows Russian tanks at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Journalists can face up to 15 years in jail for spreading what Russian authorities deem ‘fake’ information about the war. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
  • An AFP journalist runs as smoke rises behind after a bombardment in Bakhmut, Eastern Ukraine, on July 31, 2022. (AFP/Bulent Kilic)
  • Journalists report on the departure of the M/V Razoni, from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on August 1, 2022. The Lebanon-bound cargo ship carried the first shipment of Ukrainian grain under an internationally brokered deal to ease the growing global food crisis after Russia’s invasion blocked Ukraine’s agricultural exports. (AFP/Oleksandr Gimanov)
  • Ukrainian fighters from the 126th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade take part in a military drill on the southern coast of Ukraine on August 17, 2022. At least 10 Ukrainian journalists have died as combatants after joining their country’s war effort. (AFP/ Oleksandr Gimanov)

With August 24, 2022, marking six months since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the war continues to exact a brutal toll. The United Nations estimates that one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes; more than 5,000 have been killed and more than 6,500 injured. At least 12 journalists have been killed covering the war and CPJ is investigating whether the deaths of three others were related to their journalism. Russia’s independent media have been gutted as scores of journalists have fled onerous new media restrictions in their homeland, and dozens of Belarusian journalists who had earlier found refuge in Ukraine from their own country’s media crackdown were forced to flee yet again.

CPJ has called for the protection of Ukrainian journalists, along with the international reporters and media workers who join them in covering the conflict. Read CPJ’s Russia-Ukraine watch for detailed weekly round-ups of regional attacks on press freedom during the first four months of the conflict.

Scroll to see complete list

Deaths in Ukraine

Motive confirmed (12)

1
Ihor Hudenko, Freelance, killed in Kharkiv on February 26
2
Yevhenii Sakun, LIVE, killed in Kyiv on March 1
3
Viktor Dedov, Sigma-TV, killed in Mariupol on March 11
4
Oksana Haidar, Freelance, killed in Shevchenkove around March 11 – April 7
5
Brent Renaud, Time, killed in Irpin on March 13
6
Maks Levin, LB.ua, body found April 1 near Huta-Mezhyhirska, missing on March 13
7
Pierre Zakrzewski, Fox News, killed in Horenka on March 14
8
Oleksandra Kuvshynova, Fox News, killed in Horenka on March 14
9
Oksana Baulina, The Insider, killed in Kyiv on March 23
10
Mantas Kvedaravicius, Freelance, killed in Mariupol on April 2
11
Vira Hyrych, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, killed in Kyiv on April 28
12
Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, BFMTV, killed in Lysychansk on May 30

Motive unconfirmed (3)

1
Zoreslav Zamoysky, Freelance, killed in Bucha around March 4 – April 12
2
Roman Nezhyborets, Dytynets, killed in Yahidne around March 5-9
3
Yevhenii Bal, Freelance, killed in Manhush on April 2
Journalists run for cover after heavy shelling near Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 6, 2022. (Reuters/Carlos Barria)

CPJ safety advice

If you are a journalist covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, please consult the following safety advice:

If you are a journalist in need of emergency assistance, please contact [email protected].

CPJ news coverage

Features and analysis

Associated Press photographer Evgeniy Maloletka points at the smoke rising after an airstrike in Mariupol, Ukraine on March 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

Six months after Russian invasion of Ukraine, at least 12 journalists killed covering the war

CPJ/Esha Sarai

More news and features of note

The Atlantic: The volunteers who are saving Ukraine

The New York Times: Inside Russia’s brutal Ukraine detentions

BBC: Some of UK’s top journalists barred from Russia

Nieman Reports: Ukraine’s information war is winning hearts and minds in the West

‘I almost got hit’: The Guardian reports on the Ukrainian journalists turned war correspondents overnight

TIME: Olga Rudenko and the Kyiv Independent are giving the world a window into a devastating war

The Guardian: Pulitzer prize for Ukraine journalists rewards courageous, truthful reporting