IMI records 41 freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in October

Illustration by the IMI

The Institute of Mass Information experts recorded 41 freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in October, according to the monthly IMI monitoring “Freedom of Speech Barometer”.

Russia's crimes (26 cases) inlcuded murder, firing at and injuring journalists, damaging media offices, threats, cyber attacks, legal pressure, and media outlets closing down due to the war.

The death of two media professionals were reported in October:

• Victoria Roshchyna, who died in Russian custody. Her death was reported on October 10, 2024. According to the letter sent to her family by Russia's Ministry of Defense on that day Victoria died on September 19. Her name had been on the swap lists. The police reclassified the case opened previously over Roshchyna's disappearance as a war crime involving premeditated murder.
• 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.
  

Donbas.Realii correspondent Roman Pahulych suffered a concussion after coming under Russian fire near Bakhmut, Donetsk oblast, along with the cameraman Pavlo Kholodov. The two were filming the work of FPV operators when the Russian troops targeted the Ukrainian positions with barrel artillery.

Freedom of Speech in Ukraine in October 2024

"Gvara Media" journalist Denys Klymenko came under Russian fire in Kharkiv oblast while working with the "Khartia" brigade near Lyptsi village. No one was injured and everyone survived.

The Holos Hulyaipillya office was affected by a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia. The aerial bomb (KAB) attack damaged the team's computer equipment as well.

The Russian troops damaged a TV tower in Lozova (Kharkiv oblast) with drones, causing glitches in national broadcasting.

The Detector Media website was targeted in a DDoS attack, which caused glitches in the website's operation. The team believes the attack was triggered by their reporting on the Russian special services trying to recruit Ukrainians on Telegram to set fire to military vehicles.

Dnipro media holding "Vidkrytyi" shut down due to the impact of the war. The channel's owners decided to cease operations until Ukarine's victory in the Russo–Ukrainian war.

Russia’s FSB opened cases against more journalists who have reported from Sudzha for alleged illegal border crossing:

• France 24 journalist Catherine Norris Trent;
• reporter for the Swiss media holding "CN Media" Kurt Pelda.

Russian courts also passed judgements in cases against foregin and Ukrainian journalists:

• arresting the journalists for Italy’s RAI (Russia had earlier opened cases against them over Sudzha reports);
• sentencing Ukrainian journalist Yanina Sokolova to eight years in prison, convicting her of inciting international hatred:
• arresting Romania's HotNews journalist Mircea Barbu.

Multiple national and regional media outlets and journalists received identical emails with bomb threats. Such letters arrived to several Suspilne branches, Ukrainian Pravda, Detector Media, LIGA.net, Poltavska Dumka, Kremenchutska Hazeta, Syla Pravdy, etc.

The emails list the Radio Liberty journalists whom the senders blame for the supposed terrorist act. These are Iryna Sysak, Valeria Yehoshyna, and Yulia Khymeryk, who are the authors of the Radio Liberty investigation into the FSB's recruitment of Ukrainian children to set fire to UAF cars. The senders asked to give all the credit to "the terrorist group Fire Cells Group". The police checked all the buildings where bombs were said to have been planted and said that the threats were false and came from Russian IP addresses.

The IMI also recorded 15 freedom of speech violations not related to Russia's war on Ukraine. These included cases of physical violence (beatings, assault, obstruction), indirect pressure (financial pressure, stalking), and cyber attacks.

Journalists were assaulted in Cherkasy and Lviv oblast. Cherkasy-based journalist and Antenna TV director Valeriy Vorotnyk was beaten by UOC MP parishioners as they stormed the St. Michael's Cathedral. The parishioners attacked him, leaving numerous bruises on his body.

Ukrainian Pravda reported continuous systematic pressure on the team and its individual journalists from the President's Office. The teem sees it as a threat to their sustainable work: speakers being blocked by the authorities from talking with UP journalists and participating in their events; pressure on businesses to stop buying advertisements in Ukrainian Pravda.

Courts in Kyiv and Zhytomyr interfered with reporting on hearings. For instance, a Kyiv court forbade Watchers.Media journalist Alina Kondratenko to use her phone to take photos of the defendants and their lawyers during an open hearing. The judge insisted that the journalist had to file a petition. The journalist pointed out that the prohibition contradicted the memo on the media's rights in open hearings that hanged in the courtroom where it was happenning. She never received permission to take photos throughout the entire hearing.

In Zhytomyr, a judge banned Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR) journalist Nadia Chuchvahi from recording a hearing on audio. Judge Boleyko, who argued that the journalist should not record the hearing on her phone, said that some information spoken during the trial may harm law enforcement officers and participants in the litigation. Audio recording was allowed later.

"20 Khvylyn" journalist Iryna Belyakova filed a statement with the police due to harassment: an unidentified user posted photos and videos of her walking around the city under her Facebook post. The journalist believes that she is being deliberately stalked and that this has to do with her reporting. Proceedings have been initiated under Part 1 of Article 182 'Violation of privacy".

UNIAN and Kherson's MOST suffered cyberattacks. The MOST team believes the attack was triggered by a series of reports on the construction of underground schools in the city. Furthermore, several Kropyvnytskyi media outlets (Hrechka, Tochka Dostupy, CBN) received a phishing letter posing as the SBU.

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).