How the war is affecting press freedom in the region
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Ukrainian journalists covered the war in the face of missile and rocket attacks and their Russian counterparts faced harsh crackdowns on their reporting of the conflict.
CPJ has compiled a weekly timeline of the war’s impact on journalists and independent media outlets in the region. For CPJ’s full coverage, including safety advice for journalists, click here.
February 28 – March 7, 2022
Journalists attacked, injured, killed while working in Ukraine
- RFE/RL Ukrainian Service journalist Maryan Kushnir, who was embedded with the Ukrainian troops, suffered a concussion during a Russian attack on Ukrainian forces in the town of Baryshivka, east of Kyiv, early March 11.
- On March 6, Russian troops shot at and robbed freelance Swiss journalist Guillaume Briquet near the village of Vodyano-Lorino, in southern Ukraine’s Nikolaev region, according to media reports, a photo the journalist posted on Facebook, and an interview he gave to French TV station BFM TV.
- Ukrainian camera operator Yevhenii Sakun was killed in the Russian shelling of Kyiv’s television tower on March 1.
- On February 28, Russian soldiers fired on a team from the British broadcaster Sky News near the village of Stoyanka, in the Kyiv region. The soldiers shot chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay in the lower back, as well as camera operator Richie Mockler, who was hit twice in his body armor; Ramsay was recuperating from his injuries and his life was not in danger.
Russia tightens restrictions on journalists, news outlets
- Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on March 10 approved the creation of a unified registry of individuals labeled as “foreign agents.” Previously, the Ministry of Justice kept two “foreign agent” registers: one for public associations and the other for mass media groups. The new legislation would create a third registry that could include current and former employees of foreign media outlets, their funders, and employees of domestic groups that receive foreign funding. The bill will be enacted if approved by the upper house of parliament and signed into law by the president.
- On March 4, President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill imposing prison sentences of up to 15 years for spreading “fake” news about the Ukraine war. The new law prompted several international news outlets to temporarily suspend work in Russia or pull their news staff from the country, including the BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, Italian state broadcaster RAI, Spanish news agency EFE, and The New York Times. Some later resumed operations.
- According to a 17-newsroom survey conducted by Russian independent journalism project Agentstvo, published March 7, at least 150 journalists left Russia after the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
Russian authorities detain journalists covering anti-war protests
- More than 5,000 people were detained on March 6 at Russian anti-war protests, including at least 14 journalists, according to news reports and CPJ coverage. Numerous journalists were detained, and some were charged, at protests the previous weekend, as CPJ documented.
Russia blocks news websites and social media
- Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor blocked more than 20 news websites on March 6, including regional and Ukrainian sites. This was in addition to numerous Russian and foreign-based sites, as well as Twitter and Facebook, that were blocked the previous week, as CPJ documented.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Jennifer Dunham.
Jennifer Dunham | Radio Free (2022-03-11T18:45:43+00:00) Russia-Ukraine watch. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2022/03/11/russia-ukraine-watch/
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