THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
An important Ukrainian event took place at the legendary London’s Frontline Club. It was the screening of the documentary titled On The Frontier. The Heroic Story of the Journalist from the Front-Line Newspaper about the importance of the Ukrainian front-line local press. The film, whose hero is the editor of the front-line and border newspaper Zoria, Vasyl Myroshnyk, was created by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU). The NUJU presented it this year in Kyiv in June, and now, it is the first international screening.
Authors and the hero of the document received loud applauds
“I was proud to present a Ukrainian phenomenon that is one of the priorities of the Union of Journalists, the local front-line press,” NUJU President Sergiy Tomilenko emphasizes. “In the conditions when russia destroys the infrastructure, for thousands of Ukrainians in the front-line territories, newspapers are the only channel of access to information. In addition, local newspapers with well-known media brands give a sense of Ukraine and symbolize the indomitable Ukrainian spirit.”
Every week, the main character of the document, Vasyl Myroshnyk, covers 400 kilometers on dirt roads from Kharkiv, where he prints a newspaper, to the very border with the aggressor country. He personally delivers the Zoria newspaper to each village. He sells, not distributes, the newspaper through village shops. He gathers new topics filled with important information for future issues. He morally supports his compatriots who, despite constant russian shelling, cannot find the strength to leave their homes. Vasyl Myroshnyk was called “Indiana Jones” by one of the British guests of the show at the Frontline Club. This is how she was impressed by the bravery and popular sense of humor of the front-line editor.
“I also talked about wonderful colleagues from Orikhiv, Bakhmut, Kherson, Chernihiv, and the Sumy Region, who publish newspapers for other front-line communities and territories. (The editor-in-chief from Izium, Kostiantyn Hryhorenko, by the way, also took part in the event at the British club because he is currently visiting his family in London),” says Sergiy Tomilenko. “In general, the NUJU, together with international partners, helped revive 32 front-line local newspapers. And every time, we use all international platforms to draw attention to Ukraine, to attract help to Ukrainian journalists in these times of grueling military trials.”
NUJU‘s long-time partner, the Justice for Journalists Foundation, helped organize the screening of the film On The Frontier. The Heroic Story of the Journalist from the Front-Line Newspaper and an important event on the safety of journalists. During the event, the executive director of the 2402 Foundation, Kateryna Serhatskova, also presented the large-scale initiatives of the foundation to conduct training sessions on the safety of journalists.
Maria Ordzhonikidze, the director of the British Justice for Journalists Foundation, received a special award from the NUJU. The foundation has been a long-standing partner of the NUJU in monitoring physical attacks on journalists and is now helping to aid russian war crimes against media workers. Photo by NUJU
“It is impossible not to make a newspaper for the front-line territories today”
“Each trip is 400 kilometers of front-line roads. These are settlements that have long been washed with the blood of peaceful people. There are many dead in each of them. But today, it is impossible not to make a newspaper for the front-line territories. People want the truth. People love Ukraine,” says Vasyl Myroshnyk.
In April 2024, the film crew of the Union of Journalists traveled with him all the way, in particular, to the most remote corners of Zolochiv district, which is surrounded on three sides by the territory of russia. The route starts from the Kharkiv printing house Faktor-Druk, which was hit by russian missiles after the filming of the film. On the day when Vasyl Myroshnyk planned to take away the circulation. As Vasyl notes, unfortunately, many people from the film are no longer there: they became displaced people or were killed. The newsroom of Zoria came under attack at least ten times…
The film shows how, in conditions of constant danger, with the newsroom crushed by the enemy and without stable funding, Vasyl Myroshnyk performs the role of not only an editor but also a journalist, proofreader, courier, and driver, demonstrating incredible dedication to his work and readers. The authors of the film director Nataliya Shumak and cameraman Yevhen Cherevko are convinced that the tape proves the importance of the printed press, a kind of “base” of journalism, in the border areas, where the Internet and even electricity are often absent.
According to Sergiy Tomilenko, the NUJU sees the tape and the discussion around it as a good opportunity to demonstrate the role and importance of journalism during wartime and the role and importance of truthful information to combat enemy disinformation.
“The russians consider immersing people in a toxic propaganda bubble as an important component of their offensive. We are resisting this attack. We support front-line newspapers and admire the courage of those journalists and editors who revive their newspapers and, like Vasyl Myroshnyk, risk their lives to deliver newspapers to their readers,” says Sergiy Tomilenko.
He emphasizes that for Ukrainians, the Ukrainian newspaper is one of the symbols of Ukrainian statehood and Ukrainian control over the territory of the country.
The On The Frontier. The Heroic Story of the Journalist from the Front-Line Newspaper documentary is not publicly available. In order to encourage discussions and discuss the role of front-line journalism, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine demonstrates it at conferences and special meetings in front of audiences of journalists, military personnel, teachers, and students of educational institutions.
This 42-minute documentary film was prepared by the NUJU with the support of the Swiss non-profit organization Fondation Hirondelle and the International Institute for Regional Media and Information (IRMI, Ukraine).
The NUJU is grateful to international partners for their support of frontline local newspapers. In particular, assistance to the newspaper Zoria and Visnyk Bohodukhivshchyny was provided by the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), the Academy of the Ukrainian Press, and the international organization Free Press Unlimited.
Support for the restoration and stable work of the media in the front-line and de-occupied territories is among the main priorities of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine. With the assistance of the Union, as of now, with the assistance of partners, among which the largest are the IRMI and the Fondation Hirondelle, it has been possible to resume publishing of 32 newspapers in these territories.
Front-line media journalists receive ongoing support through the NUJU Journalists’ Solidarity Centers network, which is supported by the International and European Federations of Journalists and the UNESCO headquarters.
NUJU Information Service
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