IMI director joins the MCSC expert council for state strategic communications

IMI director Oksana Romaniuk. Photo by Serhiy Stetsenko / Radio Liberty

Oksana Romaniuk, director of the Institute of Mass Information, has joined the expert council for state strategic communications development at the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications (MCSC) of Ukraine, established on January 17, 2025, as per the MCSC decree No. 28, which was published on the Ministry's website.

The expert council is a permanent advisory and consultative body established to universalize practices, provide recommendations and proposals on state strategic communications. The council works as a civil society body.

The council consists of 26 members in total.

It is chaired by Andriy Nadzhos, deputy minister of culture and strategic communications. His deputy is Hanna Krasnostup, the MCSC chief of information policy and information security.

The council also includes:

• Oleksandr Makobriy, deputy chief of information policy and information security, head of the MCSC information security department;
• Yulia Yanchuk, deputy chief of information policy and information security, head of the MCSC state policy implementation and strategic communications department;
• Mykola Balaban, representative of the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security;
• Lyudmila Vasylenko, head of the NGO Center for Democratic Reforms and Media;
• Yulia Zabelina, Radio NV political commentator, media expert;
• Andriy Zablodskyi, strategic communications expert;
• Agia Zagrebelska, director for partnerships and cooperation development at the Economic Security Council of Ukraine;
• Artem Zakharchenko, head of the NGO CAT-UA;
• Dmytro Zolotukhin, strategic communications advisor to the Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine;
• Maksym Hardus, media expert;
• Andriy Kulakov, program director at the NGO Internews Ukraine;
• Natalia Lyhachova, head of the NGO Detector Media, chief editor at the news portal Detector Media;
• Vadym Miskyi, program director at the NGO Detector Media, supervisory board member at the JSC UASTU;
• Bohdan Pavlenko, PR manager at the NGO PR Army;
• Maria Popova, strategic communications expert, co-founder of the NGO PR Army;
• Ihor Solovey, representative of the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security;
• Oleksiy Tarabukin, senior strategic communications expert for the Alinea International project “Strategic Communications Support for the Government of Ukraine”;
• Alina Frolova, Mediacenter Ukraine representative;
• Oleksiy Kharchenko, chief of government communications at the NGO Institute of Information Security, supervisory board member at the JSC UASTU;
• Lyubov Tsybulska, strategic communications expert;
• Yulia Chykolba, head of the representative office of the Center for Information Resilience in Ukraine;
• Larysa Shustenko, strategic communications expert;
• Olha Chupys, senior state policy development specialist at the MCSC state policy implementation and strategic communications department (secretary of the expert council).

According to the decree, the expert council's primary tasks are:

• universalizing practices, providing recommendations and proposals on issues related to state strategic communications;
• assisting in the shaping of an effective state policy in the field of strategic communications, taking into account today's challenges and society's needs;
• monitoring the media environment, identifying tendencies and threats that may affect the implementation of strategic communications;
• developing recommendations and participating in the implementation of initiatives aimed at shaping a positive image of Ukraine in the international and domestic media spaces;
• establishing cooperation with other state bodies, civil society organizations and experts to share experience and best practices in the field of communications;
• other tasks related to the implementation of state strategic communications.

The expert council's decisions are considered recommendations. Updates about its work will be published on the official MCSC website.

The first meeting of the expert council took place on January 23, the Ministry’s website reports. The meeting discussed the strategic goals of the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security and the priorities for the expert council’s work in 2025.

“The experts were presented with the Strategic Communications Concept, which aims to build a consistent, coordinated communications strategy and is designed to motivate target audiences and key stakeholders to support our national interests, bolster unity, and mobilize resources for Ukraine’s victory,” the MCSC reports.

The concept also provides for the active involvement of international support and the development of a high-quality Ukrainian information product that includes fighting disinformation, creating powerful Ukrainian narratives, and taking initiative in the field of information.