Ukrainian media under Russian fire: helping independent journalists survive the war
Published: May 7, 2025 Reading time: 4 minutes Share: Share an articleBroken windows, shards of glass, and the smell of burning. The Russian missile attack on Sumy, on 13 April, killed dozens of people and hit the offices of the local online media outlet Cukr. The missile damaged the listed building where Cukr is based, but fortunately, none of the journalists were injured. To ensure the endurance of independent media, we will help finance the reconstruction of the office. We also provide long-term support to several other independent media outlets in Ukraine. This support is significant in light of the US funding freeze for media projects in Ukraine.
"We have been helping to finance Ukrainian media since 2014, when, after the Revolution of Dignity, local projects independent of the interests and wishes of oligarchs began to emerge. Support from international donors was crucial at the time and very quickly paid off in developing many important and trustworthy media institutions," says Nadiia Ivanova, director of the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy at People in Need.
Free media is a pillar of Ukrainian society
It is precisely the free media that is one of the key elements that distinguishes free and democratic Ukraine from Putin's Russia. They make Ukrainian society sustainable and resilient even in the most difficult times. Since the turning point of 2014, when Russia first attacked Ukraine, the people of the invaded country need verified and high-quality news more than ever.
However, the war is also taking its toll on the media. According to the Ukrainian Institute for Media, due to Russian aggression and financial difficulties caused by the war, 329 Ukrainian media outlets have been shut down since February 2022. Promising projects independent of foreign grants have had to do without contributions from a community of domestic subscribers who have started to support Ukraine's defence.
A double threat to media independence: war and finances
The suspension of funding from US donors will likely lead to further irreversible consequences for Ukraine's media sector. Until its suspension in January 2025, USAID programmes in Ukraine provided institutional support to 230 national, regional, and local media outlets and 100 Ukrainian non-governmental organisations. The total amount of grants was approximately €960,000 per month. According to the media organisation Detector Media, the cessation of US aid to Ukrainian media poses a serious threat to democracy and freedom of speech.
"There is a risk that many local communities will be left without access to quality media content or investigative material aimed at exposing corruption schemes. Fast and reliable information is vital, especially during Russian attacks. The collapse of credible media would also play into Russia's hands, which would immediately fill the information vacuum in frontline areas with its propaganda, flooding it with fake news aimed at confusing, paralysing, and intimidating people," said media expert Marija Leonova, describing the risks.
US grants are ending, but we at People in Need are responding
We reacted immediately to the news of the Trump administration's decision to freeze funding for Ukrainian media, among other things. We helped a dozen newsrooms, whose budgets often depended on US donors for up to 80 per cent, to replace the lost funding quickly.
"The speed of our assistance was particularly important. Although the European Union increased its support for independent media in Ukraine by an additional €10 million in March, it will take some time to distribute these funds. Ukrainian journalists are used to overcoming all kinds of obstacles in wartime. However, such a massive and unexpected interruption in funding poses a real threat to the functioning of the Ukrainian media. This is one of the reasons why People in Need's response in this situation is so highly appreciated," Ivanova adds.
In addition to providing direct financial support to the media, we also offer co-financing training for reporters who travel to war zones. The courses consist of 30 hours of intensive lessons in tactical medicine, lectures on safe movement in combat zones, emergency evacuation rules, risk assessment, adherence to journalistic standards in war conditions, and digital security.
91 journalists killed and the significance of the Homo Homini human rights award
We also provide psychosocial support to Ukrainian journalists. In addition to regular individual consultations with therapists, editorial teams can travel to peaceful and safe mountain areas in the Carpathians in the west of the country and, during a week-long stay at one of the local spas or mountain resorts, deal with burnout syndrome and try to forget the grim statistics for a while: At least 91 Ukrainian media workers have been killed during the Russian invasion. Among them were those who died while doing their job and those who joined the Ukrainian armed forces. Another 30 Ukrainian journalists remain in Russian captivity. Among them is 27-year-old reporter Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died last September and was awarded this year's Homo Homini human rights prize by People in Need.
