Ukrainian journalists under siege: Reporting amidst conflict

The world was turned upside down on the first day of the invasion. A catastrophe of enormous proportions unfolded, says Katerina Sergatskova, a Ukrainian journalist and director of "Daily Humanity." Every Ukrainian's life changed drastically, and the lives of journalists became even more significant, she emphasises.

According to Sergatskova, in the spring of 2022, reporters in Ukraine faced a difficult choice: to report on the events for the public, leave their jobs to save themselves and their loved ones, flee the country, or go to the front line.

It was literally a choice between journalism and death. A very difficult choice. And for many, it resulted in death. In just the first month of the full-scale invasion, 13 journalists were killed, including an independent Russian journalist. Among the deceased and wounded are many of my friends and acquaintances. Some were fortunate, survived, and continue to work - emphasises the Meduza portal.

In the third year of the invasion, Ukrainians began transferring their irritation with bad news onto the journalists who report it, claim representatives of the Ukrainian media market interviewed by Meduza. Media workers themselves faced many unsolvable ethical dilemmas during the war.

In the spring of 2022, Ukrainian media personally supported official Kyiv and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Journalists practically did not criticise the authorities' decisions. However, just a few months later, the situation changed.

With horror, we realised that the war continues, people are dying, but corrupt officials have not disappeared - says a source in the leadership of one of the independent Ukrainian publications interviewed by Meduza.

Many investigative journalists debated at the time how they could continue their profession without harming Ukraine. As a result, most of them concluded that abuses of power must be exposed regardless.

Because, first of all, corruption poses a direct threat to people on the front line, as their chances of losing the war increase if they do not receive necessary resources. Secondly, if people only learn about the true scale of the issue after the war ends, the responsibility will fall on the media. And thirdly, this war continues partly because we chose a democratic path of development and are trying to change everything somehow - says one of the Ukrainians.

Ukrainian journalists began to write the truth, and difficulties emerged for them. For example, on 14 January 2024, several men in hooded jackets arrived at the home of investigative journalist Yuri Nikolov.

They started banging on the apartment door, threatening to "send Nikolov to the front line". After the unknown individuals left, the journalist found notes stuck to his door with the words "traitor" and "draft-dodger, go serve in the army".

Nikolov is a co-founder and editor of the publication "Nashe Groshi" ("Our Money"), which specialises in anti-corruption investigations. Their publications have led to the cancellation of over 70 contracts, saving Ukraine approximately £970 million.

Nikolov authored an investigation into theft at the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, after which several officials, including Minister Oleksii Reznikov, lost their positions. The Verkhovna Rada introduced a more transparent system of defence procurement.

A film, shot by unknown individuals attempting to break into the journalist's apartment, was first published on the anonymous Telegram channel "Card Office" (100,000 subscribers).

The film was accompanied by a comment: "The army" came from the front to "deliver the agenda to a certain famous journalist".