There are plenty of journalists in Kyiv documenting the Russian invasion of Ukraine for United States media outlets and others from around the world. However, some members of the press have been met with violent combat while providing coverage.
Nonetheless, the Committee to Protect Journalists is calling out Russian forces to “immediately cease harassing journalists covering the invasion of Ukraine, and ensure that the media can work freely and safely.”
In their statement, the CPJ cited Russian forces have detained dozens of journalists and tried to push Ukrainian journalists to manufacture pro-Russian propaganda.
“Whether through the detention of journalists, direct threats to their physical well-being, or the introduction of new legislation restricting media freedom, Russian authorities are using all means at their disposal to establish an official narrative of their invasion of Ukraine,” Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, in New York, said.
“We call on the Russian authorities to stop making press freedom yet another casualty of their war.”
Viktoria Roshchina, a journalist for an independent Ukrainian television channel Hromadske, noted on Facebook that Russian troopers had recently fired on her vehicle in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.
Roshchina added that she and her driver came across a column of Russian tanks, and soldiers opened fire on their vehicle; after the pair escaped unharmed to a nearby house.
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
