IMI: 83 media workers deceased in the 10 years of the Russo–Ukrainian war

Kateryna Dyachuk. Photo by the Institute of Mass Information

83 media workers have died in Ukraine over the course of the Russo–Ukrainian war (2014 to 2024), as reported by the head of the freedom of speech monitoring department of the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), Kateryna Dyachuk, at the opening of the Council of Europe campaign "Journalists Matter" on April 9.

"Today is the first time that we announce this number. 83 is how many media workers were killed during the 10 years of the Russo–Ukrainian war, that is, since early 2014," Kateryna Dyachuk stressed.

Seven journalists were killed in 2014–2015. Three of them died while reporting and four were killed as combatants. All of them died in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion, 76 media workers have died, 10 whom died in the line of work. 66 more were killed in action or by Russian shelling or torture.

Kateryna Dyachuk also said that all the cases of journalists and the media in Ukraine being targeted are verified by the Institute of Mass Information. In the two years and a month of the full-scale war, the IMI recorded 575 crimes against journalists and the media in Ukraine.

"In recent years, it is Russian aggression that has been the main challenge for the Ukrainian journalistic community and for the foreign journalists coming here to report," she added.

IMI director Oksana Romaniuk noted that the Institute of Mass Information started the Monitoring of Russian Crimes Against Journalists and Media on the first day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"This monitoring is coming up on three years, we are documenting these crimes and passing the information over to the law enforcers, international organizations, and we hope to one day see the culprits at an international tribunal. Our goal is to achieve justice and ensure that this never happens again," Oksana Romaniuk added.

The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) is a Ukrainian public 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).