THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
Today, a journalist’s laptop is as crucial as the traditional notepad and pencil. Yet, during his escape from occupied territory, journalist Oleksandr Kuzminskyi from Mariupol lost his essential gadget.
A journalist, whose balcony displayed the Ukrainian flag since 2014, faced danger in the occupied city. In late March, he and his brother left Mariupol, undertaking a perilous journey with three transfers, numerous checkpoints, and open risks. Finally, in mid-April, they reached Chernivtsi, where their family resides. Oleksandr Kuzminskyi brought his laptop, determined to continue his journalism work, but during inspections, adversaries repeatedly dropped it from a height of nearly a meter.
After finding a job in Chernivtsi at the electronic resource “6262. Sloviansk City Website,” which covers issues from the Donetsk region and Ukraine as a whole, Oleksandr discovered that his laptop kept breaking. The Chernivtsi Center for Journalistic Solidarity, where he came to work, offered assistance. The center’s coordinator, Volodymyr Bober, informed him of the possibility of getting a new gadget with the support of the union.
Laptops to continue the professional activities of journalists who escaped occupation and were left without their working tools were made available through the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, thanks to the Lifeline Embattled CSO Assistance Fund consortium.
– I wrote a letter to the union requesting a laptop for work, and they supported me. Initially, they sent me the necessary documents to fill out, and within a week, I had a new laptop, which allowed me to continue my journalism work. However, due to my health condition, I had to make another move. Thanks to my diagnosis, I was officially able to leave the country, where I hope to receive treatment while continuing my journalistic work, – says Oleksandr Kuzminskyi.
Inna Kosyanchuk.
This series, titled Executed Free Speech, is created as part of a project Drawing Ukrainian And International Audience’s Attention To Serious Violations Of Human Rights And Crimes Against Journalists And Mass Media By The Russian Federation, which is performed by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, with support from the Swedish non-profit organization Civil Rights Defenders.
JOURNALISTS ARE IMPORTANT. Stories of Life and Work in Conditions of War is a cycle of materials prepared by the team of the NUJU with the support of the Swedish human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders.
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