War in Ukraine: RSF equips over 80 media outlets with electricity
Every day, Ukrainian journalists are forced to work without electricity as Russian strikes target their country's energy infrastructure. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in collaboration with two local partners, the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) and the Lviv Media Forum (LMF), is providing 85 media outlets and 57 journalists with energy equipment so they can continue covering the war.
Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, a focal point in the ongoing war, only gets 12 hours of electricity per day. In Odessa, a city regularly targeted by Russian forces, electricity is only available for four to six hours. Power outages are a major hurdle for the journalists on the ground covering the consequences of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. To help them bring the facts to light, RSF, along with IMI and LMF, are running an emergency support programme that will bring charging stations, generators and external batteries to 12 regions.
"Plunged into darkness, the Ukrainian media are struggling to keep reporting. By supplying energy equipment to 85 media outlets and 57 independent journalists, RSF enables them to cover local news continuously. RSF calls on the international community to continue its long-term efforts to support the Ukrainian media and ensure the right to information.
The energy equipment was allocated as a priority to regions particularly affected by power cuts. The beneficiaries include the online news website Realna Gazeta, which relocated from the city of Luhansk to Kyiv, over 700 km away, due to the war; the online publication Kharkiv Today, based in the north-east; news website Pivdenna Pravda in the southern city Mykolaïv; and the television channel TRK IT-3 in Odessa.
"Our print newspaper, Putyvlski Vidomosti, covers news from two districts in the Soumy region, Putyvl and Novoslobids'ke, which are constantly under Russian bombardment. Our editorial team has to keep up the pace despite the many challenges. Without this support, the long power cuts could have been the last straw.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, RSF, in cooperation with IMI and other local organisations, has provided support to nearly 1,600 journalists and 150 media outlets, supplying protective equipment as well as psychological and financial aid. RSF notably set up two Press Freedom Centres, in Kyiv and Lviv, a city in the west of the country.
All requests for assistance should be sent to the Press Freedom Centre at: [email protected]
This project is funded by the Delegation of the European Union in Kyiv, Ukraine.
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