Assessments of the state of press freedom in Ukraine by journalists and news outlet editors have become more restrained and at the same time more definite. The share of respondents who believe that the freedom of speech situation has deteriorated has dropped to 37% — this indicator used to be at 51% in 2024. In contrast, the number of those who assess the state of press freedom as stable has spiked to 44% against last year’s 28%, as evidenced by the anonymous quantitative online survey of journalists conducted by the Institute of Mass Information on 8 December 2025 through 5 January 2026. The survey was formatted as a questionnaire and included 193 journalists in all regions across Ukraine.*
17% of respondents reported that the state of press freedom in Ukraine has improved. This is the highest figure in the last few years of observation. Noteworthily, the share of respondents who were unable to assess the situation has shrunk: from 18% in 2024 to only 2% in 2025. IMI experts believe that such dynamics may point to media professionals’ clearer awareness of changes and trends in the press freedom field amid a prolonged full-scale war.
IMI analysts stress that the shift in assessments does not necessarily mean there are no issues with press freedom in Ukraine. Rather, it reflects the media sector adapting to wartime realities, a drop in the level of uncertainty, and the accumulation of experience interacting with state bodies and military structures. In view of this, the journalists’ concerns are increasingly shifting away from safety and regulatory threats and towards economic, staffing, and financial challenges that affect the sustainability of news outlets directly.
Furthermore, the increase in the share of respondents reporting that the press freedom situation has “been stable” or “improved” may suggest that a more realistic, rather than emotional, assessment of the state of freedom of speech has taken form: without drastic fluctuations, but with awareness of the limitations caused by the war.
*The study was conducted using a quantitative anonymous online survey method with a simple random sample of potential respondents — journalists and news outlet editors. A total of 193 responses from media professionals in all regions across Ukraine was received. Of those, 74.6% were women and 25.4% were men. The margin of error is up to 5%. The survey was conducted on 8 December 2025 through 5 January 2026.
IMI released the first part of this annual survey, focusing on the biggest challenges faced by Ukrainiain media in 2025, earlier. Read that article here.
