THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) roots for the fate of every Ukrainian and believes in the power of unity, which is capable of overcoming an insidious enemy. This was emphasized by the President of the NUJU, Sergiy Tomilenko, on the air of the Dzvony radio operating in Prykarpattia under the auspices of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
In Mariya Solodchuk‘s program called Our Guests, Sergiy Tomilenko talked about the Union‘s large-scale project, Executed Free Speech.
Sergiy Tomilenko highly praised the results of the work of the creative team, which, while working on the project, collected and processed the testimonies of Ukrainian journalists about the war crimes committed by russians. More than 100 pieces of footage and texts about the injured journalists tell the stories. The materials were transferred to the human rights initiative Tribunal For Putin and translated into English.
Sergiy Tomilenko gave specific examples of the crimes of the occupiers. One of them was when the russian military deliberately shot at unarmed reporters during their work near Irpin, Kyiv Region.
“It was very difficult to hear the shrill cries of British journalists: “Don’t shoot, we are journalists!” The British film crew was deliberately fired upon, and one journalist was wounded,” Sergiy Tomilenko said.
He recalled another touching case: the story of Lidiya Tarash from the city of Volnovakha in the south of the Donetsk Region. The editor-in-chief of the Nashe Slovo newspaper hid with her relatives. It was necessary as on the second day of the occupation; the russian military was looking for her. But she refused to cooperate with the enemy and was able to leave with her two small children to russia, from there to the Baltic countries, Poland, and finally to Ukraine.
The President of the Union noted that the NUJU, with the financial support of foreign and domestic partners, pays maximum attention to the families of the killed journalists. He recalled that last year, the NUJU initiated the establishment of the Ukrainian Journalists Memory Fund aimed at helping the families of fallen colleagues.
In particular, such support was received by Mariya Li, the mother of TV presenter and actor Pavlo Li, who was shot by the occupiers. In Irpin this year, a memorial sign was opened in honor of her only son. Lithuanian and American journalists also provided material assistance to the family.
“A few months ago, New York Times journalists approached me with an offer. They wanted to transfer part of their fees for materials about Ukraine to the families of the killed journalists. Mariya Vasilievna Li and Nataliya Diedova, the widow of the best Mariupol TV cameraman, Viktor Diedov, who was killed by the russians, have received certain aid,” Sergiy Tomilenko informed.
Currently, at least 72 media workers are known to have been confirmed dead. However, there are still many undocumented facts of injuries to journalists during attacks on newsrooms, torture, pressure, and intimidation practices of the enemy. Some of the media workers are still staying in the temporarily occupied territories. One of them is experienced journalist Iryna Levchenko from Melitopol. At the beginning of May, russian occupiers captured her along with her husband and are holding them in captivity.
“We express solidarity with her family and involve international organizations in order to free Iryna Levchenko,” noted Sergiy Tomilenko.
He stated that the occupiers consider independent journalists and the media to be dangerous witnesses of their aggression, which is why they are trying to destroy them. This is also confirmed by the seizure of UNIAN journalist Dmytro Khyliuk and media journalist Serhii Tsyhipa from Nova Kakhovka. Both of them were deported to the russian federation last year.
As the largest professional community, the NUJU considers it its duty to constantly draw public attention to such cases and seek financial support for colleagues in distress. A significant part of this mission was undertaken by the Journalists’ Solidarity Centers established by the Union last year. One of such centers operates in Ivano-Frankivsk.
“I am grateful to my colleagues from Prykarpattia. The Ivano-Frankivsk center allowed us to deploy a network of assistance for hundreds of journalists, transfer funds, equipment, etc., to Kherson, Chernihiv,” said Sergiy Tomilenko.
He notes that the current priority is the revival and support of newspapers in the de-occupied and front-line territories. Thanks to the cooperation of NUJU with international partners, it was possible to finance the resumption of printing for 28 newspapers where the press has not been published since February 24, 2022. In conditions of destroyed infrastructure, these media are the only source of information for local residents.
“We are proud to support our colleagues. No matter where Ukrainians are, they still receive Ukrainian information, which keeps our citizens in the Ukrainian information field,” emphasized the President of the NUJU.
At the same time, he called on the authorities to be responsible to citizens, in particular to the mass media and journalists. He dwelt on a critical problem, a major factor in social unrest. It is about system problems with the postal delivery of the press.
“People do not receive the press. Newspapers are uncontrollably dumped somewhere in village councils and shops. Subscribers have to walk several kilometers to get their newspaper or pension. People won’t want to subscribe to a newspaper if they don’t bring them. This is a very dangerous aspect,” the President of the Union emphasized. “We opened a telephone hotline and e-mail boxes for readers, mail carriers, and journalists to inform about existing problems with mail. People cannot be left without communication and postal services. They say that the post office is a center of civilization for them. Without it, they simply fall out of the Ukrainian space.”
Sergiy Tomilenko said that during the working meeting, the editor-in-chief of the Christian newspaper Nova Zoria, Father Ivan Stefurak, could not contain his emotions. Due to the unfriendly policy of Ukrposhta towards print media, his newspaper, with national status, became a regional publication.
“The NUJU calls on the authorities to take effective steps,” continued Sergiy Tomilenko. “Those who make big decisions in the capital’s offices should not succumb to the temptation. They say that if there is electricity and the Internet, all Ukrainians sit with smartphones and read news and Telegram channels. The authorities should equally carefully help and develop all types of media and respect the choice of Ukrainians. We see that, unfortunately, today, there is no balanced attention to all types of media. There is no attention to the mass media in the front-line and de-occupied territories in terms of information, and there is an exclusive focus on only one National Telethon.
Finally, the NUJU President once again recalled journalism’s socially important mission, which defends freedom and the values of a democratic society. The essence of this mission reflects the slogan Journalists Are important! which unites almost 20,000 members of the NUJU.
Liudmyla Makei, NUJU Information Service
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