Sergiy Tomilenko meets with Reporters Without Borders’s leadership in Paris

The President of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Sergiy Tomilenko, visited the headquarters of the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in Paris, where he met with the organization’s Director General Thibaut Bruttin and his team. The President of the NUJU reported this on his Facebook page.

During the meeting, Sergiy Tomilenko expressed gratitude to Reporters Without Borders for its many years of support for the Ukrainian journalistic community – in particular, for documenting russian crimes against journalists, consistent pressure for the release of Ukrainian media workers from russian captivity, and large-scale counteraction to Kremlin disinformation and propaganda.

The NUJU President separately mentioned the joint projects implemented by the Union and RSF: publishing a safety manual for journalists in Ukrainian, conducting safety seminars, as well as supporting journalists and media in emergency situations.

Sergiy Tomilenko presented to his Parisian colleagues the security infrastructure for journalists developed by the NUJU – a network of Journalists’ Solidarity Centers (JSC). He noted that the network has already supported over 9,000 media workers or satisfied the same number of their requests. Dozens of media outlets in frontline areas receive priority assistance. The NUJU maintains constant contact with almost 400 media outlets and over 12,000 of its members and is also building an international coalition of partners on issues of journalist safety and the development of independent media.

The parties noted a common understanding of the main threat to free journalism.

“Putin and totalitarian regimes are purposefully attacking the free press and journalists – destroying, eroding, and destroying. And we should join forces to restore justice. To punish russia for war crimes. So that journalists are released from captivity. So that citizens have access to professional independent information – which saves democracies, and in times of war saves lives. Journalists are important,” emphasized Sergiy Tomilenko.

NUJU Information Service