In the three years and ten months since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed 870 crimes against journalists and the media in Ukraine, as evidenced by the Monitoring Study of Russia’s Crimes Against Journalists and the Media, which the Institute of Mass Information has been carrying out since the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

IMI recorded 2 crimes against media and journalists committed by Russia in November – December 2025: a media office damaged in an air strike and legal pressure on Ukrainian journalists detained by Russia.

Two media workers who had enlisted in the army to defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion were reported dead in this period:

  • Kostyantyn Shtyfurak, serviceman, filmmaker, journalist. Enlisted the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the summer of 2022 and served as a commander of a UAV unit. Served in the “Hornets of Hell” unit of the Hetman Ivan Mazepa mechanized brigade No. 54. His death was reported on 16 December 2025.
  • Vasyl Khomko, serviceman, ex-director for the travel show “Heads and Tails”. Killed in action while giving cover to his retreating group on 2 October 2025. Volunteered to join the army in March 2022. He first served in the Mountain Assault Brigade No. 128 for 2.5 years and then in the Special Operations Forces for almost a year.

A total of 120 media workers have been killed in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, with 15 dying while reporting.

Media offices damaged

  • The Zaporizhzhia office of Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne was damaged in the Russian shelling strike late on 26 November.  The team was unharmed: there was no one in the office at the time of the strike. The company reported damage to a part of the building’s wall and broken windows. The team is assessing the damage inflicted by the strike.

Ukrainian media workers sentenced by Russian courts

  • Vilen Temeryanov, citizen journalist from Russian-occupied Crimea, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison by a Russian court. He was detained in his home in Çanköy (Crimea) on trumped-up terrorism charges in 2022.

See the full list of Russia’s crimes against freedom of speech in Ukraine here.

The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) is a civil society organization specializing in the media, operating since 1996. IMI defends the rights of journalists, studies the media landscape and reports on media-related events, fights propaganda and disinformation, and provides media workers with safety equipment for trips to combat areas (since the start of the Russo–Ukrainian war in 2014).

IMI carries out the only monitoring study of freedom of speech in Ukraine, keeps a list of transparent and responsible online media outlets, and tracks Russia’s media crimes in the war on Ukraine. IMI has representatives in 20 oblasts of Ukraine and runs a network of Media Hubs that provide journalists with unfailing support. IMI’s partners include Reporters Without Borders (RSF); the organization is also a member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX).