Kharkiv journalist Olha Kovaliova wants to resume her work but her wounds prevent her from picking up a camera

On July 19, 2024, Kharkiv journalist Olha Kovaliova and her team came under enemy artillery shelling. The team was working near the front line on the Toretsk Axis in the Donetsk Region and filming the work of artillerymen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The soldiers fired several shots at the enemy, then hid in the dugout together with the journalists. Then, the occupation troops hit the positions. The journalist received a shrapnel wound in the armpit, supraclavicular supra-thoracic area, and arm and got a chest fracture. She was hospitalized.

Olha‘s colleague and the military received contusions. Part of Olha‘s shrapnel has already been removed. One remains. So far, the journalist has problems with the mobility of her right hand. Further surgeries and rehabilitation should help with recovery.

“I want to continue the work; I want to fix my hand as soon as possible to be able to use my camera and continue to do what we are doing. Because what we do is very important, colleagues! And it is worth remembering this no matter what,” Olha Kovaliova told the team of the Journalists’ Solidarity Center when they visited her in the hospital.

Olha was wearing protective equipment in the dugout, and it saved her life. That is why Olha appeals to her colleagues from the hospital ward: not to neglect safety rules.

“How should we behave? It is very difficult to add anything to the fact that you and I already have three years of work experience, but three key things I want to emphasize: Always use personal protective equipment – under all circumstances! Even if you really want to take them off, for example, it is very hot, even if you are not in combat positions. And, spatial orientation is when you can understand a little about the location, where there is a potential danger, and how to protect yourself from it. These are banal things, but in my case, they turned out to be more workable. And it was missing something somewhere,” says Olha.

She said she is already planning new business trips to report on the war. She plans to definitely return to filming on the front line as soon as her health allows.

Call the Kharkiv JSC at 093 813 7544 (Anna Chernenko, the Kharkiv JSC coordinator)

ABOUT JSC

The Journalists’ Solidarity Centers is an initiative of the NUJU implemented with the support of the International and European Federations of Journalists and UNESCO. The initiative is designated to help media representatives working in Ukraine during the war. The Centers operate in Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipro and provide journalists with organizational, technical, legal, psychological, and other types of assistance.

ABOUT UNESCO

UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. It contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, sciences, culture, communication, and information. UNESCO promotes knowledge sharing and the free flow of ideas to accelerate mutual understanding. It is the coordinator of the UN Action Plan on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which aims to create a free and safe environment for journalists and media workers, thus strengthening peace, democracy, and sustainable development worldwide. UNESCO is working closely with its partner organizations in Ukraine to provide support to journalists on the ground.

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Kharkiv JSC information service