Katarina Mathernova, the European Union Ambassador to Ukraine, has backed the address by Ukrainian journalists to their international colleagues to continue covering Russia’s war against Ukraine. War fatigue must not become a pretext for the democratic world to pay less attention to Ukraine, Mathernova stressed in a Facebook post on 3 November.
The Ambassador remarked that war fatigue was taking hold in Western societies just as Russia escalated attacks on Ukraine’s civilians and energy infrastructure to unprecedented levels ahead of winter.
“Ukraine needs the democratic world’s full attention now, including tougher sanctions against russia and unwavering support for Ukraine,” Mathernova wrote.
She also mentioned the recent Russian strike in Komyshuvakha (Zaporizhzhia oblast), where people had gathered for humanitarian aid, saying that even the underground shelter had been hit and that rescuers were still searching through the rubble.
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Mathernova said that Russia had launched more than 20 attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure over the previous 24 hours, targeting power facilities in ten regions and using missiles, glide bombs and jet powered drones.
“Russia is destroying what people need to survive the winter. The journalists ask their colleagues to keep covering the war. Silence creates the false impression that the war has ended or no longer matters. They reject headlines suggesting Ukraine does not want peace and comparisons that blur aggression and self-defence… As EU Ambassador to Ukraine, I support their appeal and add my voice to theirs,” she wrote.
“War fatigue is a luxury we cannot afford while Ukrainian children face the cold and Ukrainian civilians die defending the European values we share,” Mathernova concluded.
Previously
On 2 November, more than 50 Ukrainian journalists addressed their colleagues in Western media, urging them to speak out about Russia’s war against Ukraine, not to promote manipulative claims about Ukraine’s “unwillingness” to pursue peace, and to fight war fatigue.
In a video address, the media professionals stressed that Russian air strikes, destruction, and civilian deaths continued despite the widespread perception around the world that the war may end or be frozen soon.
The journalists also urged international media to call Russia’s aggression by its name and not to shift the blame for the war continuing onto Ukraine.
