Ukraine’s police registered 97 cases concerning crimes against press representatives in 2025 and the first nine months of 2026. Three of them were submitted to court, as stated in a response sent on 26 October 2026 by the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) to the Institute of Mass Information’s (IMI) query about the progress of investigations into crimes against journalists.
The data covers the period from January 2025 through September 2026.
All cases
The largest number of cases, 58, were registered under Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstruction of lawful reporting). Of these, 31 have been closed, one has been submitted to court, and no decision has been made on 26.
28 cases were registered under Article 345-1 of the Criminal Code (threats or violence against a journalist). Nine of them have been closed and two have been submitted to court. The response stated that no decision had been made on 16 proceedings.
One case was registered under Article 347-1 of the Criminal Code (deliberate destruction or damage of a journalist’s property). No decision has yet been made on it.
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10 more cases were registered under Part 2 of Article 163 of the Criminal Code, which concerns infringement of the secrecy of correspondence, telephone conversations, and other correspondence transmitted by means of communication or via computer. Of these, two were closed, and no decision has been made on eight.
Cases registered in 2025
The police registered 47 cases concerning crimes against media representatives in 2025.
Of these, 24 cases were opened under Article 171. Twelve were closed, one was sent to court, and no decision has been made on 11.
15 cases were registered under Article 345-1. Seven of them were closed, one was sent to court, and no decision has been made on seven.
One case was registered under Article 347-1. No decision has yet been made on it.
Seven more cases were opened under Part 2 of Article 163. One of them was closed, and no decision has been made on six.
Cases opened in the first 9 months of 2026
From January to October 2026, the police registered 50 investigations into crimes against journalists. 34 cases were opened under Article 171; 19 of them have been closed, and no decision has been made on 15.
13 cases were registered under Article 345-1. Two have been closed and one was submitted to court. The response also stated that no decision had been made on nine cases. The status of one case is unclear.
Three cases were registered under Part 2 of Article 163. One has been closed, and no decision has been made on two.
Statistics for the previous years
The police registered 85 cases over crimes committed against media representatives in 2024. However, only six of these cases were submitted to court with indictments.
The police registered 77 cases over crimes committed against mass media representatives in 2023. Seven of those cases were investigated and brought to court with indictments.
Throughout 2022, law enforcement agencies registered 88 cases of crimes committed against mass media representatives. Four of them were submitted to court. Compared to 2021, when 27 the number of such cases reached 27, he number of cases investigated dropped by 85%.
In 2021, the number of investigations into violations of journalists’ rights increased by 69% compared to 2020. Namely, in 2021, the police investigated and submitted to court 27 cases under the “journalist articles” of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
In 2019, 259 cases over crimes against journalists were opened and 14 of them were submitted to court.
In 2018, there were 287 proceedings regarding crimes against journalists. Of these, 22 cases were submitted to court.
