More than 50 Ukrainian journalists urge colleagues to maintain war coverage
More than 50 Ukrainian journalists have recorded a video appeal to their media colleagues around the world, urging them not to allow attention to Russian aggression to wane and not to spread claims that shift responsibility for the continuation of the war onto Ukraine.
This is stated in a video published by journalists, including Tetiana Troshchynska, a radio and TV presenter and director of the Strategic Analysis and Socially Influential Content Development Department at public broadcaster Suspilne.
The participants in the appeal stressed that despite talk of a possible end or freezing of the war, Russia continues to shell Ukrainian cities, destroy civilian infrastructure and kill people. At the same time, they believe that news fatigue regarding the war prevents foreign audiences from seeing the reality.
The media workers criticised publications that describe Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries as “madness,” while Russian attacks on schools, hospitals and residential neighbourhoods do not receive proper attention.
They also drew attention to headlines alleging that Ukraine does not want peace. The authors of the appeal see such phrasing as blaming the victim of aggression for resisting.
“We very much want peace, but we do not want an imitation of it. So that this or other acts of aggression never happen again, the aggressor must be punished,” the appeal states.
Tetiana Troshchynska, who joined the initiative, stressed that Ukrainian media workers see many examples of support from foreign journalists. “We are appealing specifically to colleagues because we see a huge number of examples of solidarity and a real understanding of what is actually happening. Just take the latest example: coverage of the evacuation of civilians from Oleshky, which is occupied by Russians,” Troshchynska noted.
According to Troshchynska, international organisations, including Amnesty International and UN bodies, are documenting the consequences of Russian strikes on the civilian population. She called for this data to be taken into account when covering the war.
War correspondent Andrii Tsaplienko explained that the appeal is also intended to warn Western societies against underestimating the Russian threat. He is convinced that the consequences of the aggression could extend beyond Ukraine and threaten the security of European countries.
“We want not just to break through the information wall, but to warn our colleagues,” the journalist noted.
The participants in the appeal called on international media to openly name Russia as the aggressor, to counter manipulation and to explain to their audiences the danger of attempts to appease a state waging a war of conquest. They also emphasised the need to maintain sanctions pressure on Russia.
“How brave politicians will be depends precisely on journalists,” the authors of the video appeal noted.
To provide background, Russian forces hit a humanitarian aid distribution point in Komyshuvakha in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, killing 24 people and leaving 27 others missing, regional authorities said.
Human rights organisations and Ukrainian authorities emphasise that structural economic pressure remains a key tool to halt such atrocities. They urge every nation and individual government worldwide to strictly enforce global sanctions, close existing regulatory loopholes, and completely sever remaining commercial and technological ties with the Russian Federation. Civil society groups stress that any continued cooperation by foreign businesses directly contributes to the resources Moscow uses to sustain its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
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