Head of national media regulator says restrictions on Telegram are “matter of time”

February 15 –  Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, said that Ukraine is attempting to work with Telegram to remove channels that the Ministry has identified as working for enemy intelligence. Yusov said: “This work is underway, but it is very difficult. We see that within Russia, Russian special services can resolve issues with Telegram administration very quickly when needed.” However, the Ukrainian government has not been able to establish communications that would protect the country’s national interest or Ukrainians themselves. Yusov said: “There is a huge number of channels that spread not just fakes, but also Ukrainian defenders’ and prisoners’ personal data.” More on Detector Media in Ukrainian.

 

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Ukrainian media outlet invites citizen journalists to learn how to cover events in the East

February 5 – Online media Skhidnyi Variant (Eastern Variant) has opened applications to participate in a series of five trainings within its School of Civic Journalism in March and April. The online trainings will teach safe methods of gathering and transmitting information about events in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with a focus on physical and digital security. Participants will learn to maintain balance in reporting while remaining anonymous and safe. The trainings are open to activists, volunteers, and those interested in civic journalism who are living in occupied and frontline areas. The trainings are funded by the USAID Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative (UCBI). Skhidnyi Variant also announced the launch of the HelpPrint hotline, for residents of frontline territories and occupied areas who need support or want to share information.

More on Skhidnyi Variant in Ukrainian.

 

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Ukrainian military changes regulations on reporting from the frontline following IMI recommendations

February 5 – Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi signed an update to the March 1, 2023 order which introduced accreditation procedures and processes for media working in the field of engagement. The amendments incorporate recommendations developed by the Institute of Mass Information. Key changes include:

  • Removing the stipulation that immediately terminates a journalist’s right to work at a military position in the event of life or health-threatening situations. In practice, this provision blocked media access because there is almost always a threat to life and health at the front. [IMI approves this change and reminds journalists who work at the front that they should undergo appropriate training and acquire protective equipment that IMI can provide.]
  • In the green zone, accredited media personnel are allowed to work without being accompanied by a press officer.
  • In the yellow zone, unaccompanied work is now allowed where the civilian population has free access. Otherwise, the escort of a press officer is necessary.
  • In the red zone, media personnel are generally prohibited, but may be allowed if they are accompanied by officials. Photos and videos must be approved before publication. Previously, there was no access to the red zone at all.
  • Before beginning to work with media, a press officer must warn them that photos and videos can be subject to review. If content is deemed to contain sensitive information, it must be removed.
  • Accreditation with the Ukrainian Armed Forces for journalists will now be valid for one year (previously it was only six months).

 

More on the Institute of Mass Information in Ukrainian.

Bihus.Info publishes investigation of SBU’s surveillance over journalists. SBU responds

February 5 – Bihus.Info published an investigation entitled “We have found them. Special operation of SBU against journalists…” revealing how the Bihus team uncovered that the SBU Department of the National Security Protection was responsible for the illegal surveillance of Bihus.Info’s investigative reporters during their stay for training at a hotel in the outskirts of Kyiv.
The Bihus.Info team managed to get full cooperation with the hotel to use their security camera footage, as well as interviews with staff who recalled the SBU team that carried out the operation (while pretending to be a company having a corporate retreat event). The security camera footage revealed arrivals/departures and movements through the resort area of a group of nearly 30 people, including the cars and vehicle registrations the group used. The journalists also found where the secret cameras had been installed that illegally filmed them in their hotel rooms and saunas, and where they were afterwards removed.

The team was able to use social media to identify the leader and two other members of the team, and to discover them entering and leaving an SBU building in the center of Kyiv, and frequenting a local cafe near their office.

On February 5, at 9:32pm, immediately after the Bihus.info investigation was posted, the SBU commented that combating organized drug crimes was one of the areas of activity of the SBU department which surveilled over Bihus.Info. The statement also said that the SBU had opened a criminal proceeding under Article 359 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal acquisition, sale, or use of special technical means of obtaining information).

On February 5, late in the evening, Liga.net published a summary of its journalists’ conversation with a source at the SBU who told them that the head of the SBU department which  illegally surveilled the Bihus.info team, Roman Semenchenko, was fired on January 31 – directly  after the scandal broke in the media. “The position of the SBU leadership is clear – the actions of individual employees cannot cast a shadow on the entire SBU, which does so much during the war: from blowing up the Crimean bridge and conducting unique special operations to eliminate war criminals on the territory of the Russian Federation. Therefore, the personnel who followed Denys Bihus’ newsroom should definitely be held accountable. At the very least, they should be sent to the front,” the source said.

More on Detector Media in Ukrainian and on Liga.net in Ukrainian.

The Bihus.info story is here and English subtitles should be available soon.

 

Image: Screenshot from Bihus.info’s story.

Suspilne issues a statement condemning ZDF report from Mariupol

February 2 – Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne (UA:PBC), published a statement condemning a report on occupied Mariupol presented by the German public service broadcaster ZDF. Released on January 29, the story by ZDF’s Moscow bureau chief Armin Körper, misled viewers about living conditions in occupied Mariupol and distorted the nature and consequences of Russian aggression. Despite acknowledging that the city was unlawfully occupied, the report violated multiple professional standards.

The story was produced with the cooperation of the Russian occupation authorities, as the ZDF crew entered Mariupol through the Russian Federation territory, violating Ukrainian law.

Additionally, Suspilne pointed out missing important contextual information that undermines statements presented in the story. These included the presentation of the idea that the majority of Mariupol residents support Russia and do not resist the occupation, while omitting the information that Russia obliged residents who tried to evacuate to go through “filtration” processes, illegally detained them and tortured people who “cooperated” with Ukraine’s civil servants, journalists, and representatives of civil society.

Suspilne urged ZDF to address these violations and provide a broader context to the facts outlined in the report.

More on UA: PBC corporate online site in Ukrainian.

Image: UA:PBC

Detector Media summarizes recent attacks on Ukrainian journalists

January 23 – Detector Media (DM) published “Who is harassing and threatening Ukrainian media and how?” which looks into who might be behind recent attacks on prominent Ukrainian investigative journalists (Bihus.Info, Nashi Hroshi).
In late January 2023, investigative journalist Yuriy Nikolov exposed inflated prices in Ministry of Defense contracts for providing food to military units stationed away from the frontline.
“This broke a moratorium on corruption investigations in Ukraine that had been in place since the start of Russian invasion.” A year later, as the war continued, the media began to scrutinize the government’s management of resources. Nikolov’s report led to price reductions in procurements and the resignation of Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov. In the second year after the full-scale invasion, journalists probed high-profile cases, facing threats and harassment from anonymous Telegram channels defending the government.
Critical remarks about the government’s record on upholding freedom of speech, made by journalists Yulia Mostova, Vitaliy Portnikov, and Nataliya Ligachova during the National Media Talk in mid-October 2023, triggered a campaign against them. Bloggers Volodymyr Petrov and Serhiy Ivanov, who run the ISLND TV YouTube channel, criticized ZN.ua, Detector Media, and the Institute of Mass Information. Information campaigns extended to anti-corruption activists, including Vitaliy Shabunin, Oleksandr Lemenov, and Mykhailo Zhernakov. In 2024, a broad-scale effort to discredit independent media emerged, including attacks on The Kyiv Independent, Ukrayinska Pravda, and its investor Tomas Fiala. Physical provocations, including men who came to journalist Yuriy Nikolov’s apartment, escalated the situation. Bihus.Info faced surveillance and leaked wiretapped conversations. Public outcry followed, with MPs demanding official investigations by police.
DM concluded that these attacks harmed Ukraine’s international image, exploited by Russian propaganda. They also united the media community and revealed weaknesses in government. DM’s chief editor, Nataliya Ligachova said: “The atmosphere of mistrust and tensions in society, intimidation and harassment of journalists and anti-corruption activists, is an ideal background for provocations by the Russian special services.” Nikolov said the attacks were inspired “by enemies of Ukraine, either external or internal.”

More on Detector Media in English.

 

 

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Online media to help Ukrainians in Donetsk and Luhansk regions stay informed

January 22 – New online media Tochka Skhodu (Eastern Point) has launched, covering the news for residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The media outlet was founded by an NGO with the same name, formerly Media Community of Mariupol and is staffed primarily by journalists from the East who have relocated. Media manager Anna Ovcharenko said: “We know what it’s like to be under occupation, under fire, not to be able to freely express your opinion.”  Eastern Point plans to cover issues face by residents of the occupied and frontline territories, keep residents informed with local government updates, and help those who have left Donetsk and Luhansk regions stay connected to the area.

More on the Institute of Mass Information in Ukrainian.

 

Photo: Tochka Skhodu

Bihus.Info founder reveals months-long illegal surveillance after incriminating video appears on YouTube

January 16 – On January 16, a YouTube channel called “Narodna Pravda” (People’s Truth) posted a video depicting Bihus.Info journalists using illegal substances at a New Year’s party. The video contained conversations from wiretapped phones and footage from hidden cameras. Founder of the Bihus.Info investigative project Denys Bihus released statements in response to the video, condemning the drug use and revealing that members of the Bihus.Info team have been under surveillance for nearly a year. He said that the surveillance and video release were not a spontaneous act of revenge for some specific material, but systematic, long-term harassment intended to discredit the team’s work. More on Suspilne in Ukrainian.

 

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Police will investigate threats against Kherson journalist Oleh Baturyn

January 15 – The police have initiated criminal proceedings regarding the threats of violence and blackmail against Kherson journalist Oleh Baturyn. Baturyn filed a report earlier this month when he received multiple threats that he believes are connected with his work investigating a Kherson Regional Council deputy who registered a business with Russian occupation authorities. Baturyn said that he has continued to receive threats even after contacting the police.

More on the Institute of Mass Information in Ukrainian.
 

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Law on Media language provisions increase requirements for airing in Ukrainian

January 3 – Starting January 1, Ukrainian national and regional television channels must air at least 90% of their programming in Ukrainian. The change due to language provisions of the Law on Media coming into effect. Radio broadcasters’ minimum requirements also increased from 75% to 90% of programming. Local television channels must air at least 80% of content in Ukrainian; previously the minimum was 60%.

More on the Verkhovna Rada’s official website in Ukrainian.

 

 

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