4 media workers killed in the 12th month of the war

Cover by IMI

In the 12th month of Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine, four media workers died defending the country.

This is evidenced by thee Russian War Crimes Monitoring by the Institute of Mass Information.

In the twelfth month of the war, IMI recorded four freedom of speech violations committed by Russia. Namely, these are attacks on journalists and cybercrimes.

In January and February, four media workers were killed in action while defending Ukraine:

• Ihor Teryokhin – journalist, author, restaurateur from Odesa, killed in action on January 28. Ihor worked at TRC "RIAK" and was a member of the "Hlas Media Group" team. He had studied winemaking at the Odesa National Academy of Food Technologies and was interested in the wine culture, eventually becoming a restaurateur. He is survived by his wife Chrystyna and their small son.
• Pavlo Tymoshenko – a cameraman for the Cherkasy branch of "Inter", killed on February 5 near Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast). He been a cameraman at the Cherkasy offices of VIKKA, 1+1, and Inter since 2008. Pavlo Tymoshenko was 42 years old. He had three children.
• Oleksiy Borys – "Yurydychna Hazeta" journalist, a soldier of the 58th Brigade, killed in action on February 9 on the Bakhmut axis. Oleksiy Borys worked at "Yurydychna Hazeta" since the spring of 2021, previously he had been a Paralegal at Arzinger. He was 27 years old.
• Serhiy Klymenko – "Suspilne Kherson" staff member, killed in a battle with the Russian occupiers in Maryinka, Donetsk oblast, on February 5. He worked in the tech division of Kherson radio and television company "Skifia" (now — "Suspilne Kherson") for many years. He is survived by his wife and two children.

Furthermore, in February, Kyiv bid farewell to the host of TV channel "Kyiv", Andriy Zahoruyko, a serviceman who was killed in action back on November 3, 2022, near Bakhmut. Andriy came under Russian mortar and artillery fire near Spirne village, Bakhmut district, while returning from combat with his comrades. He served in a MANPADS platoon in the 25th separate rifle battalion. Since July, he has been carrying out combat missions in Donetsk oblast.

Three filming crews came under Russian fire in or near Bakhmut, Donetsk oblast: one Ukrainian crew ("Zaborona") and two international ones (journalists of the "Česká Televize" and the "Bild").

As Ukrainian war correspondent, Česká Televize fixer Anastasia Zhuk told IMI, the Russians had shelled them deliberately. The journalists themselves and their cars were marked with "PRESS" stickers. Before the attack, there was a drone hovering over them. The journalists were unharmed, merely frightened, Zhuk added.

The cybercrimes recorded by IMI include Russian hackers streaming a fake address by Volodymyr Zelensky on Channel 24. The channel managed to restore broadcasting quickly, though.

We remind that IMI recorded 567 freedom of speech violations in 2022. 470 of them were committed by Russia in the course of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In the year that has passed since the start of the full-scale invasion Russia has committed 497 crimes against journalists and media in Ukraine.