IMI records 16 freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in May

Illustration by IMI

The Institute of Mass Information experts recorded 16 freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in May, according to the monthly IMI monitoring “Freedom of Speech Barometer”.

Russia’s crimes (11 cases) included abduction, TV tower shelling, and cyber attacks.

The Russian aggression resulted in the deaths of two media workers who were defending Ukraine in the ranks of the UAF:

• Oleksandr Mashlay – a soldier who had been the chief editor for the socio-political newspaper and later magazine "Pravyi Postup" for a long time, killed in action in the Avdiivka area on May 7, 2024.
• Iryna Tsybukh – paramedic with the Medical Volunteer Battalion "Hospitaliers". She was the regional broadcasting department manager at Suspilne and worked with Hromadske Radio as an editor and journalist. Iryna was killed in action in Kharkiv oblast on May 29.

As of June 6, a total of 81 media workers have died in Ukraine as a result of Russia's aggression, 10 having died while reporting.

Freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in May 2024

It was reported in May that the chat administrator of the Ukrainian Telegram channel "Melitopol is Ukraine", Vladyslav Hershon, has been in Russian detention for almost 10 months. Vladyslav Hershon was detained in the occupied Melitopol on August 20, 2023 together with the administrators of the Telegram channel "RIA Melitopol". All Telegram admins detained on that day are being charged under multiple articles of Russia’s criminal code: public calls for terrorism, high treason, and espionage. They face 12 to 20 years in prison.

Vladyslav Hershon’s name was announced by the service "Kidnapped from Melitopol" on May 3, 2024, the World Press Day.

IMI also learned that Volodymyr Martynov, a journalist from Novoaidar (Luhansk oblast), was taken prisoner by the Russian occupiers in December 2022. Russian troops kidnapped him from his home on December 10, 2022. He was taken to Luhansk and kept "in a cellar" for 18 days. According to the journalist, no investigators visited him during this time, he was never interrogated or charged.

He was never allowed to shower during the entire time. His cellmate and he had a bucket for a toilet, which would only be replaced when it was full.

On December 28 he was taken to an unknown place and released. Volodymyr managed to get to his sister, and then went home to Novoaidar. He later left the occupied territory with some help. Now he lives in Pristina (Kosovo) on a program for Ukrainian journalists and works as a freelance reporter.

Volodymyr suspects that an acquaintance who would quarrel with him and hold opposing views snitched on him to the Russians.

Russia continues to shell TV towers. On May 6, the Russian troops shelled a TV tower in Bilopillya (Sumy oblast); the tower was damaged by the strike and is currently disabled. The previous time Russians targeted the Bilopillya TV tower was on March 9, 2022.

Russia continues to carry out cyber attacks on Ukrainian media. IMI recorded at least seven such cases in May. On May 9 Russian hackers targeted Ukrainian satellite broadcasting en masse, streaming the parade in Moscow instead. The attack affected the channels owned by Victor Pinchuk, as well as Dim, Espreso, Suspilne. Moreover, intense DDoS attacks were reported by Hromadske Radio and dev.ua. Both outlets believe Russia to be behind the cyber attacks.

IMI also recorded five freedom of speech-related violations committed by citizens of Ukraine. These include death threats, censorship, political pressure, and cyber attacks.

"Ukrainian Pravda" reported death threats to investigator Mykhailo Tkach and other members of the team, the media outlet's chief investigator. Mykhailo Tkach received a text in a messenger app on May 10 from someone who called themselves Oleksandr Slobozhenko (the subject of the media outlet's recent investigation "Unfit"). He offered the journalist to "make peace" in exchange for money. There have been multiple unsuccessful attempts to access the journalist's Monobank account and Tkach started receiving dozens of calls from unknown numbers and text messages with authorization codes from banks and credit companies.

Later, at least 10 "Ukrainian Pravda" employees received threatening letters with the following content: "I already wrote to Tkach about this, but he probably didn't understand, I'll try to get the idea through one last time. Sometimes knowing when to shut your mouth can save a life. My proposal to resolve the issue peacefully is valid, I'm waiting for an answer. S."

The censorship cases had to do with “topic guidelines” at Ukrinform. On May 29, "Ukrainian Pravda" released the article "No outsiders around. How the President's Office is taking control over Ukrinform", reporting that during his time as the director of the news agency Ukrinform, journalist Oleksiy Matsuka, who is considered a protege of the President's Office, introduced censorship, "topic guidelines", and planned to overhaul the agency so as to appoint the "right" people to certain positions.

The existence of “topic guidelines” was confirmed by Yuriy Stryhun, the Ukrinform correspondent for Chernihiv and Cherkasy oblasts, who said that he had receiving "topic guidelines" with a list of preferred and unwanted guests for Chernihiv oblast from the editor in December 2023.

On the following day Yuriy Stryhun received a conscription notice with a demand to come to the enlistment office by his registered address. Yuriy Stryhun calls it a strange coincidence that the enlistment office paid him such attention after he confirmed receiving “topic guidelines”.

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).