Trends in Russia's crimes against the media in 2024: shelling TV towers, cyber crime, intimidation

Photo by Lesya Lutsiuk

A spike in the shelling strikes on TV towers, cyber crimes, and intimidation have been a trend in Russia's crimes against journalists and the media in 2024, said Kateryna Dyachuk, head of the Freedom of Speech Monitoring Department at the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), during the presentation of the memorial report to the victims of Russia's aggression (2022–2024) organized by the ZMINA Human Rights Center on December 27 in Kyiv.

In the two years and ten months since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed 801 crimes against journalists and the media in Ukraine, according to the latest IMI data.

“Overall, speaking of the trends in Russia's crimes that we have observed over the past year: they started targeting TV towers again. We understand why they are doing this: to create an information vacuum. After all, this was in cities close to the frontline — Sumy, Kharkiv. We also recorded a spike in the number of cybercrimes: broadcasts are being disrupted, Russian propaganda is being streamed on our Ukrainian TV channels,” she noted.

According to the expert, Russian intimidation intensified in October, November and December.

“Perhaps everyone heard about the case when someone (mass mailed bomb threats – Ed.) in some frankly bizarre language — it felt like it had been translated from Russian into Ukrainian. One could say that this was a coincidence, because many structures received (the emails – Ed.), but when we analyzed it, we saw that it were the offices of certain media outlets receiving the emails, there was some selectivity — including Radio Liberty journalists who were named as the ones to blame for the alleged terrorist attacks,” said Kateryna Dyachuk.

The IMI media expert also reminded that since the start of the full-scale invasion, 94 media workers have died, with 12 dying while reporting. Of those, most died in 2022, mainly in Kyiv, Kherson, and Donetsk oblasts. Others died as combatants or were killed by Russian shelling or torture.

“This number shows what journalism in Ukraine is losing. These are the stories we will never hear. The stories that these people could have told the world, documented Russia’s crimes,” added Kateryna Dyachuk.

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).