IMI calls on the UAF to allow accredited journalists free movement through cities during curfew
The Institute of Mass Information calls on military-civilian administrations to allow journalists with UAF accreditation free movement through rear cities during curfew.
Multiple journalists have told IMI that they were barred from entering rear cities on their way back from business trips during curfew hours. According to the media workers, they have been asked for additional documents on top of UAF credentials while passing checkpoints. Every city, they say, has its own pass system.
A journalist working for a big TV channel, who travels across Ukraine to report, told the IMI that he has to use a separate pass to move around Kyiv city and the oblast.
"The system is based on whether various documents are available. For example, in Kyiv and the oblast, you must travel with a pass that is valid for Kyiv city and the oblast, but invalid in other oblasts. Moreover, not everyone (at checkpoints. – Ed.) understands how the documents work. For example, in remote oblasts, in the north, we were often asked to show our passports instead of the UAF accreditation," said the media worker, speaking anonymously.
According to the journalist, a pass is given specifically to the car which the media workers drive.
"It is true that you need a lot of things to work. On the other hand, it is reasonable, because a journalist can use their credentials for their own purposes, and we should be cautious of this. And when there is an additional permit for a company car, you won't be driving around willy-nilly," the journalist noted.
Another media worker told the IMI that he did not make it time to the start of the curfew hours and did not have a permit from the Kyiv City Military Administration (KCMA), so he was not allowed to enter Kyiv.
"We were five minutes late to the curfew, and the National Guard did not let us enter Kyiv. They told us to turn around and spend the night either in the car or go to a hotel. Accreditation didn't matter to them. They were asking for a KCMA permit. As I understand it, you need a permit for the car," said the journalist.
Having been barred from entering Kyiv, they turned around and went to a hotel in the city's outskirts, arriving in Kyiv the following morning.
He noted that he has not contacted the KCMA on this issue and the editorial team had no time to decide how to act in this situation. The media worker also added that he had heard similar stories from his colleagues.
Another journalist told the IMI that he was stopped by Kharkiv patrol police during the curfew last year, who asked not only for the UAF accreditation, but for a permit from the local authorities to move through the city in those hours.
According to the journalist, this happened on July 16, 2023, as he was driving through downtown Kharkiv around 2 a.m. to film the aftermath of another rocket strike.
"When they approached us, I introduced myself, showed my credentials and explained that I was going to the shelled site. They first asked how they could verify that I had actually been issued this accreditation. I recommended that they call the hotline by the phone number listed in the credentials. After a brief conversation about whether this number worked at 2 a.m., they asked me if I had a curfew permit from the local authorities. I said I didn't, I hadn't heard of such permits. Moreover, my credentials already give me the right to move around during the curfew, and I doubt that the local government has a higher authority than the UAF General Staff," the journalist said.
"For some time they were trying to persuade me that I needed to get this permit, then I asked them to either detain me and take me to a police station, or let me do my job. Then we peacefully went about our business," the journalist noted.
The IMI has contacted the Kyiv City Military Administration press office for clarification.
How UAF accreditation works
The Institute of Mass Information has previously explained how UAF accreditation works with regards to the curfew.
The UAF press ID says that it gives a journalist the right to work in combat areas and during curfew hours. But the UAF Commander-in-Chief's Decree No. 73 does not mention working during curfew.
The General Staff press office has explained that a UAF press ID allows journalists free movement during curfew in combat areas, but not in the parts of the country that are away from the front line. Such movement must have a reason.
If a media crew is coming back from a business trip and knows that they will not make it before nightfall, then they need to warn the military in the city or village about this. The press office recommends getting a special pass from the local authorities of the city or village where a journalist lives permanently. The pass will be of use in cases of night shelling strikes, when a journalist might need to travel urgently to film the aftermath.
In February 2024, the UAF Commander-in-Chief's amended Decree No. 73 "On the organization of interaction between the Ukrainian Armed Forces, other components of the Defense Forces and mass media representatives under martial law" came into effect.
Back in March 2022, the KCMA explained that the curfew in Kyiv also applies to media representatives: even those with a UAF accreditation are forbidden from moving around the city. However, a pre-obtained special pass allows you to travel around.
Kateryna Diachuk, Valentyna Troyan
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