97 media workers killed in the three years of Russia's full-scale invasion

Illustration by the Institute of Mass Infrormation

Russia has killed 97 media workers in Ukraine in the three years since the start of the full-scale invasion, according to the monitoring study of Russia's crimes against journalists and the media by the Institute of Mass Information (IMI).

Over this period, 12 journalists died while reporting, 72 wree killed in action as combatants, and 13 died by Russian shelling or torture.

A total of 104 media workers have been killed since the beginning of the Russia–Ukraine war in 2014, with 15 dying while reporting. Of those, 95 were men and 9 were women. Most of the deceased were Ukrainian media workers, 10 were foreign citizens.

In the third year of the full-scale invasion, the IMI recorded two cases of media workers being killed while reporting:

• Reuters safety advisor Ryan Evans was killed in a Russian shelling strike on a Kramatorsk hotel on August 24, 2024;
• Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna died in Russian custody, her death being reported on October 10, 2024.

The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) is a Ukrainian non-governmental media organization that has been operating since 1996. The IMI defends the rights of journalists, analyzes the media field and covers media-related events, fights propaganda and disinformation and has been providing media outlets with safety gear for trips to the combat zone since the start of the Russo–Ukrainian war in 2014.

The IMI carries out Ukraine's only freedom of speech monitoring and keeps a list of high quality and sustainable online media outlets, documents Russia's crimes against the media committed in the course of the war on Ukraine. The IMI has representatives in 20 oblasts of Ukraine and a network of "Mediabaza" hubs to provide journalists with continuous support. The IMI's partners include Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House; the organization is a member of the International Organization for the Protection of Freedom of Expression (IFEX).