Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske has revealed today that one of its journalists, Victoria Roshchina, has been missing since 15 March 2022. The media fears that she is “a prisoner of the Russian occupiers”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) calls for her immediate release. According to Hromadske, Victoria Roshchina had planned to go last week to Mariupol, a city that has been shelled by Russian troops for more than two weeks. On 12 March, her colleagues were unable to make contact. She was probably detained a few days later, on 15 March, by Russian forces in an unknown location. “For…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today called on the international community to put pressure on Russia to end the blockade of Mariupol in Ukraine. A large-scale humanitarian disaster in this major city in eastern Ukraine must be avoided. The EFJ supports its Ukrainian affiliates, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU), in their efforts to evacuate journalists and media workers from Mariupol. After a series of failures due to the lack of a ceasefire, evacuations in Mariupol accelerated on Tuesday as residents ran out of food and water. About 20,000…

Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall was attacked and seriously injured on 14 March while reporting on the outskirts of Kyiv. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) condemn the systematic targeting of media workers reporting on the front lines in Ukraine and urge the international community to investigate these attacks. Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said the news crew probably “came under mortar or artillery fire” from Russian forces as they were heading towards the city of Irpin, which sits just 20km north-west of Kyiv. He also confirmed on Telegram that Hall was in a serious condition…

An award-winning US journalist working in Ukraine, Brent Renaud, has been shot dead in Irpin, outside Kyiv, on Sunday 13 March. Ukrainian police said he had been targeted by Russian soldiers. Two other journalists were injured and taken to hospital. It is the first reported death of a foreign journalist covering the war in Ukraine. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) condemn the killing and call for the killers to be brought to justice. Brent Renaud, 50, was a journalist and documentary filmmaker who lived  and worked in New York City and Little Rock, Arkansas. He had previously…

Update 20.03.2022: Oleg Baturin was released on 20 March following eight-day detention by Russian soldiers. Ukrainian local journalist Oleg Baturin disappeared in Kakhovka, a city in Kherson region (Ukraine), on Saturday evening. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its two Ukrainian affiliates, NUJU and IMTUU, in calling on the authorities to investigate this disturbing disappearance in a region where journalists live in terror of Russian reprisals. We call on any witnesses to contact journalists’ organisations. On Saturday 12 March, at about 4 pm, an acquaintance called Oleg Baturin, who is a journalist for “Novy Den” newspaper, and proposed to…

A solidarity mission carrying half a ton of humanitarian aid for Ukrainian journalists left Athens on 9 March, headed by Maria Antoniadou, the President of the Journalists’ Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers (JUADN). The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) praised the ”incredible show of solidarity” by JUADN who organized the mission in collaboration with the Unified Journalists Organization of Subsidiary Insurance and Health Care  (EDOEAP) and supported by the Panhellenic Federation of Journalists Unions (PFJU). The aid, which will be delivered to IFJ/EFJ affiliates the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of…

The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) are calling on media employers to ensure the protection of reporters they send to war zones. The IFJ, EFJ and their affiliates in Ukraine, NUJU and IMTUU, note that many correspondents in Ukraine do not have bulletproof vests, ballistic helmets or medical kits. Newsrooms continue to send reporters to Ukraine without specific insurance and protection, while bulletproof vests are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain in Europe. Most European journalists travel to Ukraine via Krakow (Poland), where they thought they would be able to buy protective equipment. But it is impossible to buy…

Within just a few days, a UK Sky News crew, as well as a Swiss independent journalist, were attacked by Russian forces in Ukraine. The European and International Federation of Journalists (EFJ-IFJ) strongly condemn the targeting of media workers as part of the war in Ukraine and call for the establishment of a special international tribunal for war crimes in Ukraine. On 6 March, Swiss freelance photoreporter Guillaume Briquet was shot and robbed by Russian soldiers while operating in the Mykolayiv region, in southern Ukraine. The journalist was driving his armored car with clear press marking and had just passed…

After more than a week of bombings, airstrikes, and gun battles, Russia’s war in Ukraine is intensifying. Journalists’ lives are at risk. Those who cover the frontlines need first aid kits, flak jackets and helmets, and medical supplies. Those trapped in towns and cities under fire need safe passage, relocation, and humanitarian assistance. Incredible support and assistance are being delivered every hour of every day by Ukraine’s journalists’ unions – the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine (IMTUU). Their work is saving lives and keeping the media alive. But they need your help.…

The first confirmed media worker who lost his life due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is Yevheniy Sakun, a cameraman for LIVE TV. Together with four other people, he was killed on the afternoon of 1 March 2022 during a two-target rockets attack on the TV tower that took place in Kyiv, Dorogozhychi area. On the same day, the Babin Yar Memorial Complex, a Holocaust memorial site, was also shelled. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) expressed its condolences to the family and colleagues. During the identification of the bodies, the National Police identified Sakunlost because of his…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine entered its seventh day, yesterday, with heavy attacks on the city of Kharkiv. This morning the EFJ received the following message from a group of four journalists from Kharkiv, members of the National Union of Ukrainian Journalists (NUJU): “We, the people of Kharkiv, are united: we help each other to find food and medicine, we help the weakest to find bomb shelters, and the children lost in the bombing to find their mothers. We know no manifestations of national, racial or gender discrimination. Together we fight for peace and victory over the invaders! We are not…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and other members of the Council of Europe’s Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists today published a joint statement calling for the protection of journalists covering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and for the provision of urgent and practical assistance to reporters on the ground. Read the full statement below. The undersigned journalists’ and civil society organisations, which are partner organisations of the Council of Europe’s Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists, utterly condemn the threats to the lives and safety…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today joined a new call by the European trade union movement to the European Union and its Member States following the armed aggression by Russia against Ukraine. The EFJ joins the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in reiterating its condemnation of the attack, demanding the immediate stop of military operations, Russian troops to leave the country, and dialogue and talks for peace to be started. Here is the press release published on 27 February by the ETUC, which is the voice of workers and represents 45 million members from 92 trade union organisations in…

On 26 February, the Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor (RKN) announced the opening of an administrative investigation against a number of Russian media outlets for allegedly “spreading false information of public interest”. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins the Russian Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU) in denouncing a new step in state censorship: RKN not only dictates to journalists what sources they can quote (only official Russian sources), but also what words they can use. RKN criticises the targeted media for publishing “information about the shelling of Ukrainian cities and the death of civilians in Ukraine as a result…

Human rights, media freedom and journalists’ organisations issued a statement in condemnation of invasion and attacks on the press in Ukraine and Russia. We, the undersigned organisations, stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, but particularly Ukrainian journalists who now find themselves at the frontlines of a large-scale European war. We unilaterally condemn the violence and aggression that puts thousands of our colleagues all over Ukraine in grave danger. We call on the international community to provide any possible assistance to those who are taking on the brave role of reporting from the war zone that is now Ukraine.…

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joined today the European Federation and the World Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU and PSI) in condemning Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine. We support the call of Ukrainian trade unions, including the EFJ Ukrainian affiliates NUJU and IMTUU, to ask Russia to immediately stop the attack and to bring the Russian army back to Russia. Here is the statement issued today by EPSU and PSI. The EFJ fully associates itself with this call. This morning the Russian army attacked the Ukraine. We condemn this violation of the integrity of Ukraine. War and occupation…