Journalists At War. The Monitoring of Russian Occupiers’ Crimes Against Independent Media In 2023

While oppressing independent journalism in its own country, the Kremlin is as well exterminating it at the war Russia is waging against Ukraine. Russian military shell Ukrainian TV towers and vehicles with "PRESS" written on them; they cannot be stopped by international humanitarian law or at least basic moral standards. PEN Ukraine is documenting the aggressor’s crimes against free Ukrainian and international media. Every loss is staggering. As of March 2025, 102 Ukrainian and foreign media workers have been killed by Russian occupiers since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

November

Oleksandr Popov, cameraman with Suspilne Mykolaiv and defender of Ukraine, was killed near Kupyansk on November 22, 2023. Since 2005, Oleksandr Popov had been working as a cameraman at Mykolaiv Regional TV and Radio Company; later, he got employed at Suspilne Mykolaiv until September 2019. Since April 2023, Oleksandr stood up to defend Ukraine within the ranks of the 95th separate air assault brigade.

On November 3, journalist and defender of Ukraine Taras Davydiuk was killed at the outskirts of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region. In his civilian life, Davydiuk was the editor-in-chief of the Rivne media Horyn.info. After the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the journalist stood up to defend Ukraine for the second time in his life.

October

Photographer Volodymyr "John" Myroniuk was killed in the beginning of October near Kurdiumivka in the Donetsk region. Volodymyr was a citizen of the USA. He came to Ukraine after the beginning of the Revolution of Dignity. Since the beginning of the war in the east of Ukraine, he had filmed Ukrainian servicemen and servicewomen. Volodymyr was known as the most courageous and dedicated man. He made his very last reportage at the position of Ukrainian infantry, stormed and attacked with hostile drones.

Volodymyr Myroniuk

September

Andrii Kryshtal, journalist, civic activist, chief editor of the Samooborona newspaper, passed away on September 27. He died from heavy injuries received during his service in the Lyman direction. Andrii’s car struck a mine, resulting in him losing his leg.

Andrii Kryshtal. Photo: Roman Andrusiak/Facebook

July

On July 18, historian, journalist and serviceman Dmytro Rybakov was killed in battle with the Russian occupiers. This happened during offensive actions in the Zaporizhzhia direction. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Dmytro Rybakov joined the 47^th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Before the war, he worked as an editor and media consultant with such outlets as Chas.News, Forbes Ukraine, LB, Ukrainska Pravda, and Mind.ua.

Serviceman and ex-videographer with the Suspilne in Rivne, Kostiantyn Hnitetskyi was killed near the locality of Dibrova in the Luhansk region on July 16. This happened during the Russian mortar attack of Ukrainian positions. According to the Institute of Mass Information, Kostiantyn became the 64^th media worker whose life was taken away by the war. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he worked at the Rivne Regional Department of Culture and Tourism and made career in digitalization.

Maksym Shvartsman, serviceman, photo correspondent and cameraman with the Chernivtsi broadcast A. S. S., was killed in the Donetsk region on July 15. Maksym enlisted in the Chernivtsi territorial defense since the first days of the full-scale war. "His native village of Kalanchak in the Kherson region was occupied, which Maksym could neither accept nor allow," stated in the message on the A. S. S. website.

 

June

Journalist and serviceman Roman Chornomaz was killed on June 13 in the Bakhmut direction. In his civilian life, Roman was an activist, photo reporter and correspondent with Nasha Vira newspaper. Since the first day of the full-scale war, Roman joined the Svoboda battalion as a sniper. He fought in the Rubizh rapid response brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine.

Sound producer and serviceman Ivan Shulha was killed at the frontline in June. Since 2015, Ivan had worked at the Starlight Media and at the Priamyi TV Channel where he did the job of a live stream sound engineer. After the very beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ivan enlisted in the army. He was 34 and had a nine-year-old son.

May

Lviv journalist and activist Viktor Petrov was killed at the frontline on May 29. Viktor was the first editor of the Sykhiv Media outlet (2016-2019), a member of the Institute of Social Initiatives, and the founder of the What If creative film studio. He served in the 54^th separate mechanized brigade named after Hetman Ivan Mazepa.

Ukrainian anthropologist and journalist Yevhenii Osiievskyi was killed on May 22 near Bakhmut. He voluntarily enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine on November 3, 2022. Osiievskyi served as a rifleman medic in the 77^th airmobile brigade. Yevhenii Osiievskyi was an author with the Kunsht and Spilne media. In between the combat missions, he prepared his last publication – an interview with the British geneticist Adam Rutherford. The interview was published in the Kunsht magazine five days before Osiievskyi’s death at the frontline.

On May 17, Ivan Kuzminskyi, musicologist and television director, was killed by the occupiers near Dibrova in the Luhansk region. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kuzminskyi carried on research activity in the sphere of ancient Ukrainian music and worked as a director at Maliatko TV Channel. He participated in the defense of Kyiv, then served in the 67^th separate mechanized brigade in the Bakhmut direction.

On May 15, it became known that naturalist photographer Denys Kryvyi was killed near Bakhmut while attempting to evacuate his wounded friends in combat. Denys Kryvyi did landscape and reportage photography, animalist and aerial shooting. He was awarded with the FIAP prize from the most prestigious European photographers’ contest. His footage was published in the National Geographic and in the GardCity outlet in Pervomaisk. Today, the photographs by Denys Kryvyi adorn the guides to the Buzkyi Gard National Park in the Mykolaiv region.

On May 9, French video journalist Arman Soldin was deadly injured in a missile shelling near Chasiv Yar. His colleagues from the AFP News Agency witnessed his death.

April

On April 29, Volodymyr Mukan was killed on a combat mission in Bakhmut. Before the full-scale war, Volodymyr had worked as a journalist and editor at the Newspaper in Ukrainian, Kraina magazine, and Gazeta.ua website. He was also a co-organizer of the Old Car Land – the biggest retro festival in Ukraine.

By the end of April, it became known that Oleksandr Bondarenko, journalist and an employee of the RMA Strategic Communications Agency, was killed near Kreminna in the Luhansk region. Oleksandr had been defending Ukraine since the very first days of the full-scale invasion. He began his career as a radio host in Luhansk, then worked at BBC Ukraine and Ukraine TV Channel.

Bohdan Bitik, a producer with La Repubblica, was killed in a Russian attack in Kherson on April 26. That day, he worked in the city together with the outlet’s correspondent Corrado Zunino. The journalists were attacked by Russian snipers near the Antonivka Road Bridge after they got out of the car. Both were wearing jackets with "PRESS" written on them. Corrado Zunino got four wounds.

Dmytro Siryk, a radio host with Suspilne, was killed in battle on April 20. Dmytro had worked in the media field for more than 15 years: he had been a DJ, music editor, and radio presenter. He had long worked in Luhansk but moved to his native Severodonetsk in 2014, after the regional center was occupied. In March 2022, Dmytro voluntarily enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Vladyslav Dzikovskyi went missing in December 2022 on his combat mission in the Luhansk region, and in early April 2023, it became known of his death. He had worked as a system administrator at the Detector Media for more than ten years and was mobilized into the army on March 23, 2022. Dzikovskyi served as a senior machine gunner of an armored vehicle in the operational battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine, named after Serhii Kulchytskyi.

Andrii Boyko, an ex-cameraman with the Vezha TRC, enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. He was killed on April 6, in a hostile attack near Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region. Andrii served as an infantry platoon commander in the 102^nd separate brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces, named after colonel Dmytro Vitovskyi.

March

On March 26, it became known that journalist Oleksandr Tsakhniv was killed in battle in the Bakhmut direction. This was reported by the Vchasno news agency where Tsakhniv had worked before the full-scale invasion. Until he became a journalist, Oleksandr was engaged in democratic development of his native Donetsk region by organizing social and cultural events.

On March 13, Oleksii Olkhovyk, a cameraman with Suspilne, was shot dead from an anti-tank grenade launcher near Bakhmut. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Oleksii enlisted in the 241^st brigade of Kyiv Territorial Defense Forces. In autumn 2022, he received a shrapnel wound but returned to the frontline in a month of recovery.

February

The funeral of Andrii Zahoruiko, the author and host of the Kyiv Stories historical project, took place in Kyiv on February 21. Andrii began his television career as a director, screenwriter and cameraman at the Finfort TV production studio in Donetsk. He later worked at TV channels such as Tonis and City. In 2012, Andrii Zahoruiko joined the team of Kyiv TV Channel. He was killed on November 3, 2022, in the village of Spirne near Bakhmut, but was only buried on February 21 because the DNA expertise had lasted for this whole time.

Oleksii Borys, journalist and a serviceman of the 58^th motorized infantry brigade, was killed at the frontline on February 9. Before the full-scale invasion, Oleksii had worked at the Legal Newspaper. Until the spring 2021, he had held the position of a paralegal at the Arzinger legal company.

On February 5, Pavlo Tymoshenko, a cameraman with Inter TV Channel, was killed in battle against Russian occupiers near the town of Vuhledar. Tymoshenko had also fought for Bakhmut. He served as a rifleman in the 118^th brigade, 157^th separate battalion of the Cherkasy territorial defense. Pavlo had a disability; still, he voluntarily enlisted in the Territorial Defense Forces since the beginning of the full-scale war.

Serhii Klymenko, an employee of Suspilne:Kherson, was also killed on February 5, in battle for Maryinka. Serhii was a radio and sound engineer. He enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in September 2022.

January

On January 28, Ihor Teriokhin, writer and journalist from Odesa, was killed at the frontline. Teriokhin worked at the RIAC TRC and was a team member of the Hlas Mediagroup. He defended Ukraine at the frontline since the very first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion.