"Foreign journalists must see what is happening at the front with their own eyes," journalist and fixer Dmytro Kovalchuk • NUJU

In the first two months of 2024, the eve of the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a new wave of trips to Ukraine by foreign journalists is expected. It is necessary to prepare for this, says Ukrainian freelance journalist and fixer Dmytro Kovalchuk.

On June 27, a media person with extensive experience working near the front line was injured as a result of a Russian missile attack on a Kramatorsk cafe, which took the life of the famous writer Viktoriya Amelina. Now, after treatment, Dmytro has resumed work with foreign colleagues. Hence, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the Academy of Ukrainian Press (AUP), responding to his request, provided Dmytro Kovalchuk with a laptop received from the government of Germany.

“I made a test trip to the front-line zone – with France 24 – a month after the Russian attack. I had to understand how much I had recovered. And I felt that I was not yet ready to work in a danger zone. However, I help foreign colleagues to work in other cities of Ukraine,” says Dmytro Kovalchuk.

According to him, in recent months, certain changes have been felt in the attitude of international journalists to the events in Ukraine: they began to come less often in smaller groups. This, however, is connected not only with a decrease in the attention of the world press to our war due to certain fatigue and distraction by the conflict in Gaza but also with the general tendency to cut media budgets and with the fact that Ukraine has introduced new restrictions on the work of journalists in front-line areas. In addition, the combat operations themselves, despite their intensity, are no longer as “quick” as they were during the Kharkiv and Kherson offensives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

“Currently, the focus of attention of foreign journalists is on the issue of mobilization and relations between the military and military-political leadership of Ukraine,” says Dmytro Kovalchuk. “Recently, my French colleagues and I interviewed Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the Presidential Office and adviser to the Commander-in-Chief of the AFU Valerii Zaluzhnyi. It was interesting.”

According to the fixer, the media teams he has been working with for many years have already begun to perceive him as a member of their team. In particular, there are verbal agreements on compensation in case of damage to property – an international company, in particular, helped restore Dmytro‘s car, which was damaged during the Kramatorsk shelling. They also help when treatment is needed.

“My voice is the voice of a team member,” says Dmytro.

On the other hand, when working on several-day one-time projects, the status of the fixer is more “shaky.” In these cases, there is simply no time for the development of “team building.”

“It is most difficult to work with foreign freelancers who come to Ukraine. They need to make a story and then find an editor to sell it to. They have small budgets that do not allow them to cover possible financial costs in case something happens,” says Dmytro.

According to the fixer, in order to activate the interest of the international press regarding the events in Ukraine, it is necessary to allow the media to communicate more widely with the military directly and not through press officers and spokesmen.

“Journalists should have the opportunity to see what is happening at the front with their own eyes and show it,” the fixer believes.

From the new year, the newsrooms of powerful world media receive new budgets, and this can become an additional incentive for the trips of their journalists to Ukraine, especially on the eve of the second anniversary of the full-scale war.

“So, the new laptop received from the NUJU will come in handy,” Dmytro is convinced. “In addition, it will help in various training sessions and internships, which are very necessary in our work. And my plans and hopes include cooperation with the UN Mission in Ukraine and the international human rights organization Global Rights Compliance, which documents war crimes in Ukraine.”