Two years of war in Ukraine: more than 1,500 journalists and 150 media supported by RSF
Protective equipment, psychological and financial support... Over the past two years, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), alongside its Ukrainian partner the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), has supported more than 1,500 Ukrainian and international reporters and 150 different media outlets to help them cope with the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
From the very first days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, RSF began taking unprecedented steps to support the media covering the war. Two Press Freedom Centres were opened in Lviv and Kyiv, 1,500 journalists and 150 media outlets were supported with professional equipment, grants and assistance with their journalistic practices. Some national and regional media have received several grants from RSF.
“For two years, journalists have been covering the consequences of the Russian invasion from the front lines in Ukraine and, from the very first days, RSF has been focused on helping them to keep working by distributing protective gear and funding, and even organising rest stays far from the front. The international community must respond to this enduring war by continuing to support these media for the long haul, in order to safeguard the right to news and information.
- More than 900 journalists and 96 media equipped by RSF
Since the start of the Russian invasion, RSF has loaned more than 900 Ukrainian and foreign journalists and 96 media outlets throughout the country with individual protective gear (helmets and bulletproof vests), first-aid kits, protection against CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents), and energy packs (batteries, generators and solar panels). The RSF Centres in Lviv and Kyiv continue to equip journalists on a daily basis. This logistic deployment, which has been unprecedented for RSF, has been possible thanks to the help of its local partner, the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), a press freedom NGO with a presence in 14 of the country’s regions.
- Rest stays for 95 journalists with their families
Ukrainian journalists are constantly exposed to gunfire, missile fire and shelling in the course of their work. They suffer from chronic stress, extreme fatigue, burnout and anxiety disorders. Thanks to collaboration between RSF and the Lviv Media Forum (LMF), a Ukrainian organisation specialising in support for the media, 95 media professionals and their families have been given a one-week rest stay in the Carpathian Mountains in the west of the country since August 2023 in order to enable them to recover and to continue their journalistic activities over the long term.
- 35 media beneficiaries of financial grants
RSF has provided funding to 35 Ukrainian media outlets to enable them to keep operating despite the economic crisis resulting from occupation, bombardments, collapse of the advertising market, increase in production costs and the loss of employees mobilised in the war. Nearly half of the funded media are located in cities near the front that are particularly exposed to Russian bombardment, such as Nakypilo, a website and radio station in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, and Most, a local newspaper based in the southeastern city of Kherson, that had to flee Russian occupation for several months in 2022.
- 77 Ukrainian media participating in the JTI process
In order to boost Ukrainian news media transparency and reliability, a crucial challenge in wartime, RSF has launched an emergency protocol version of the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI) in Ukraine in partnership with the US organisation NewsGuard and Ukraine’s Institute for Regional Media and Information (IRMI). Thanks to this emergency protocol, 77 Ukrainian media have undertaken to analyse their practices by the JTI standard’s criteria and 36 Ukrainian media have already published their JTI transparency report. Media with a national audience such as the public radio and TV broadcaster Suspilne are participating in this process, as is Detektor Media, an Ukrainian NGO specialising in the media. In 2024, RSF will help the first Ukrainian media to prepare for an external audit by the Imperium Certific certification centre, a prior condition for obtaining JTI certification.
This project is co-financed by the European Union delegation in Kyiv.
