“As long as we have subscribers, we work!” Maksym Zabielia, editor of a front-line newspaper

Myrnohrad city newspaper Rodnoy Gorod is the only publication in the Donetsk Region published systematically, almost without interruptions. Readers did not receive their newspaper only two weeks after the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression and at the end of April and beginning of May 2022, when the newsroom’s staff left Myrnohrad at the request of the authorities. So, the work was organized under new conditions, and since May 13, the newspaper has been published without interruptions. Recently, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) financially supported the publication.

“We conducted a subscription campaign for the first half of 2023,” says Maksym Zabielia, the editor-in-chief of the Rodnoy Gorod newspaper. “Taking into account that at least half of the population left our region, the results are not that bad; we retained over 3,000 out of 4,700 previous subscriptions! Of course, these circulations numbers cannot be compared with the pre-war 6,000-6,500, but I still consider it an achievement. As long as we have subscribers, we work! With time, the deepening of the economic crisis caused by the war, and the increase in printing service prices, our newsroom has run out of certain financial reserves. In addition, the military administration of Myrnohrad does not want to support the newspaper. So Rodnoy Gorod is trying to survive by attracting grant aid.”

“Unfortunately, potential donors mostly refuse because our city is too close to the war zone,” says the editor. “Grant projects are designed for six months or more, and the grant-givers express their nonconfidence in our ability to work all this time. Effective support was received only from the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), which financed the printing of the issue dated March 3, 2023. On the contrary, the Union believes that our proximity to the front increases our importance for Ukraine and Ukrainian journalism. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank, first of all, the management of the NUJU, its President Sergiy Tomilenko, and the donor organizations that cooperate with the Union and understand how important it is to support Ukrainian journalists, in particular, those who work close to the front-line territories in war conditions.”

Maksym Zabielia says that the publication’s work is organized so that it allows him to be constantly present in Myrnohrad and provide his team with relative safety.

“All the time, part of the team remains in Myrnohrad, and part – outside its borders,” explains the editor. “My fellow journalist and I conduct a kind of shift rotation: she worked in Myrnohrad for ten days and went to Dnipro; now, I am working in Myrnohrad. In doing so, we leave the city one by one. We thank the NUJU‘s Journalists’ Solidarity Center for providing us with two protective kits for trips to the danger zone.”

Shelling of Myrnohrad is a common thing. But fortunately, many people have left the city, so the enemy often hits empty houses. Of course, there is damage to property, but there are fewer victims this way.

“Apparently, if I had stayed in Myrnohrad all the time, its condition would not have been so noticeable. And when you have the opportunity to leave and then come back, you see how your city is being destroyed every time,” says the editor. “In addition, security measures are becoming stricter every time, and the population is more confused. Although, on the other hand, since 2014, we have already gotten used to shelling. This, of course, is bad. But we do not lose optimism; despite everything, we believe in Victory!”

Support of publications in the front-line and de-occupied territories is one of the major priorities for the NUJU in 2023.

“Thanks to the assistance of international partners, the Union has already managed to finance publishing at least one issue of over 20 newspapers in the zone close to the front or the Russian border,” says NUJU President Sergiy Tomilenko. “We always say: Journalists are Important! They are important because the truth is important. Without journalists and mass media, the truth remains hidden from people! The people deprived of a peaceful everyday life, often – the job, health, and lives of their loved ones by the occupiers, must have the right to receive prompt, objective, truthful information. In Ukraine, journalists work precisely to preserve this right!