IMI records 13 freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in June

The Institute of Mass Information experts recorded 13 freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in June, according to the monthly IMI monitoring “Freedom of Speech Barometer”.

Russia’s crimes (two cases) included the abduction of a journalist and a media outlet shutting down.

The Russian aggression resulted in the death of one media worker who was defending Ukraine in the ranks of the UAF:

• Arsen Fedosenko – a UAF captain and photographer for the Media Center of the UAF Strategic Communications Department. Killed in action on June 10 after being gravely wounded by a KAB in Kharkiv oblast.
  

Freedom of speech in Ukraine in June 2024

Kakhovka journalist Zhanna Kyselyova has been kidnapped from the occupied Kherson oblast city again. She was abducted from her own apartment on June 27. Her current whereabouts are unknown. The Russian troops have already kidnapped Zhanna Kyselyova once in September 2022 and kept her in a torture cellar for almost a month. After being released, she stayed in the occupied city. Zhanna Kyselyova ran the district newspaper "Kakhovska Zorya" for many years and fought for its denationalization.

Sumy's STS Broadcasting has announced a temporary shutdown for the duration of the marial law. The decision had to do with the lack of advertising, the team downsizing due to the evacuation of some employees and mobilization. At least 235 Ukrainian media outlets had to shut down, relocate, or suspend broadcasting as a result of Russia's full-scale aggression.

The IMI also recorded 11 freedom of speech violations not related to Russia's war on Ukraine. These included assassination, death threats, obstruction of legal reporting, censorship, restricting access to information, indirect and legal pressure.

For the first time since 2019, a journalist has been assassinated in Ukraine: Qazaqstan's opposition journalist Aydos Sadykov was killed in Kyiv. He was in a coma in the hospital after being shot. His wife Natalia Sadykova blamed the death on the President of Qazaqstan, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev.

He and his wife ran the YouTube channel "BASE", criticizing the Qazaq authorities and oligarchs. Sadykov is also known for supporting the January 2022 protests in Qazaqstan, which were suppressed by CSTO troops. In October 2023, he was declared wanted in Qazaqstan for "inciting hate". The latest video on his channel was uploaded on June 18. It has the title "The Qazaq President has become a puppet to Russian influence agents."

War correspondent Anna Kalyuzhna reported receiving death threats to herself and her parents following her criticism of a post by TV presenter Yanina Sokolova, who wrote that the battlefield "needs reserves urgently." According to the war reporter, the threats were made after a conflict with an Assault Brigade No. 3 battalion commander Dmytro Kukharchuk. The police have opened proceedings over death threats to Kalyuzhna.

Moreover, the IMI recorded 5 cases of obstruction in Kyiv, Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Mykolaiv, and in Poltava oblast. Journalists (e.g. the Watchers reporter Alina Kondratenko) have been asked to leave the courtroom during an open access hearing.

In Kryvyi Rih, the local authorities banned journalists from filming the aftermath of the June 12 shelling strike with no explanation. Sofia Skyba, the executive director of the online media "Pershiy Kryvorizky", and other journalists have asked for an explanation, but received none. The journalists consider the ban an attempt to monopolize information on the part of the authorities.

In Odesa, security guards interfered with TSN special correspondent Serhiy Osadchuk's reporting from the site of a missile strike despite the journalists' having been led to that spot by a patrol police officer. According to the journalist, the security guards intervened when he was recording testimonies from eyewitnesses (the warehouse staff). After some time, the security guards walked away elsewhere and no longer approached the TSN filming crew.

Local journalists received the army's permission to work at this civilian object in compliance with all safety regulations.

Slidstvo.Info reported facing censorship when they were asked to remove all references to problems with missing or incomplete fortifications in Kharkiv oblast from their material which was released on June 6. In her comment to the Institute of Mass Information, Slidstvo.Info editor-in-chief Nastya Stanko reported that it was the military that tried to influence the media outlet, namely to have the featured soldiers' words about fortifications from the article. The journalists refused to comply.

Read the full monitoring here.

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).