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IMI records 27 freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in November

05.12.2024, 10:00

The Institute of Mass Information experts recorded 27 freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in October, according to the monthly IMI monitoring “Freedom of Speech Barometer”.

Russia's crimes (19 cases) inlcuded opening fire on journalists, damaging media offices, death threats, cyber attacks, and legal pressure.

The death of two media professionals were reported in November:

  • Oleksiy Andreyev, an army serviceman and TV cameraman from Mariupol. He was buried in Chernivtsi on November 2, 2024, having been previously assigned missing in Bohdanivka (Donetsk oblast, Bakhmut district) on November 29, 2023. His body was recently retrieved in a swap. A DNA analysis confirmed his identity. Oleksiy Andreyev worked as a cameraman at the Mariupol TV channels "TB7" and "Sigma" and the Azovstal plant press office since the 2000s.
  • Andriy Buchak, Luhansk journalist who had been fighting on the front line since 2014. Andriy Buchak went missing in action on August 13, 2024 near Vodyane village (Donetsk oblast). His death was reported by his wife Olena on November 24, 2024. In the 2000s, Andriy Buchak worked in the Luhansk newspaper Kuryer.

Freedom of speech in Ukraine in November 2024

Hromadske journalist Ksenia Savoskina and cameraman Oleksiy Nikulin were targeted by Russian drones while filming a news story near Kupyansk (Kharkiv oblast). The journalists were filming the evacuation of animals from the left bank together with the Kharkiv Animal Rescue initiative. The Russians targeted their car, which burned down. They had to hide from the drones several times on their way back. The journalists were not injured.

Moreover, Russia's shelling strike significantly damaged the pavilion where STB's show MasterChef is filmed. There were no casualties.

On November 26, multiple media outlets and journalists received emails from unknown individuals claiming that bombs had been planted at various institutions across Ukraine, as well as the media outlets themselves. Namely, such emails arrived to Vilne Radio, Dumka, The Page, Speka, Syla Pravdy, Suspilne Uzhhorod, Chernivtsi news outlet 0372, Detector Media. The emails were sent from different addresses and signed with different names. The sender of each email introduces themselves as a combat veteran specializing in mining and accuses society of treating soldiers unfairly. They threaten to continue with bomb attacks “once every three to four days,” targeting schools, administrations, media offices, and public transport. Furthermore, the sender asks to blame Radio Liberty journalist Iryna Sysak and deputy Minister of Finance Svitlana Vorobey for the crimes.

Detector Media and inform.zp.ua were targeted by cyber criminals, with the former website temporarily going down and the latter being subjected to a month-long attack. The Russian hacker group “People's CyberArmy” claimed responsibility for the attack on Detector Media. The Zaporizhzhia team believes the attack is related to their reporting on the Russian army's crimes in the temporarily occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia oblast.

A court in Russia arrested France 24 journalist Catherine Norris Trent in absentia for reporting from Kursk region. Russia had previously opened a criminal case against her for illegally entering the Kursk region, partially controlled by Ukraine. The journalist entered the territory of the Kursk region together with Ukrainian soldiers; her report aired on the channel and on the broadcaster's website in late September.

The IMI also recorded eight cases of freedom of speech violations unrelated to Russia's war on Ukraine. These included death threats, obstruction, limiting access to public information, indirect pressure, and cyber attacks.

Journalists in Kyiv and Dnipro faced interference when reporting on the aftermath of Russian shelling strikes. Two journalists were not allowed to report from the Kyiv residential complex Jack House, where a fire had broken out following a Russian drone strike.

The Dnipro oblast military administration banned journalists from filming the aftermath of the Russian shelling strike on the city on November 21. The media only received permission to work at the shelling sites five hours later, even though anonymous Telegram channels were already actively sharing photos and videos of the shelling results.

Bihus.Info chief editor Maksym Opanasenko reported restriction on access to public information. The President's Office failed to answer his query regarding the new deputies of Andriy Yermak, the head of the President's Office.

Sofia Bakun, journalist with the anti-corruption center Mezha, reported death threats by a lawyer in a Kyiv court. The journalist was attending a court hearing about the assets of Yuriy Nerukh, the head of the weapons control sector at the crime prevention department of the Desnyanskyi Department of the Kyiv City National Police. During a break in the court hearing, Yuriy Nerukh's lawyer Andriy Davydchenko told her, "So, journalism or death?"

Rivne media outlet Chetverta Vlada was targeted with libel after reporting on the obstruction by City Council officials. The defamatory article allege that Chetverta Vlada has ties to the Russian special services because the deputy editor Antonina Torbich shares a registration address with a Moscow Patriarchate congregation. Later, another smear article about the Chetverta Vlada journalists Olha Pidhorodetska and Valeria Khomych, who report from Rivne Council sessions most often, was published. The article contains elements of ageism and lookism. The team believes this was triggered by an article criticising the Rivne City Council chief of communications, Yana Yevtushok, whom the media outlet accuses of obstruction.

Read the full monitoring report 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).

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