During the year of full-scale war, occupiers killed most journalists in March 2022 – NUJU

At least six journalists were killed by the Russian military last March, according to data from the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU). That month, Ukrainian and foreign journalists became victims of the occupiers, covering the bloody battles near Kyiv in the north, east, and south of our country.

Honoring the memory of colleagues who were killed while performing their professional duty, on the anniversary of the death of two of them – Irish photojournalist Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova, which occurred on March 14, 2022, the NUJU again calls for creation of the International Tribunal for Russia, including for crimes against journalists and the media.

” Russian occupiers in Ukraine consider journalists a target of their attacks. There are numerous testimonies about the targeted shelling of cars marked with the inscription “Press,” deliberate killings of journalists working near the front line, shelling of editorial offices, arrests, kidnappings, torture of journalists, deprivation of media workers from the opportunity to conduct professional activities in the temporarily occupied territories. The initiators and perpetrators of these crimes must be punished!” emphasizes Sergiy Tomilenko, the President of the NUJU.

We hope that the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, in cooperation with international justice bodies, will carry out effective investigations, the materials of which will become the basis for finding and establishing justice for media workers.

During the year of the full-scale invasion, according to the verified data of the NUJU, the International and European Federations of Journalists, the British Foundation Justice for Journalists, and the American Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 12 journalists were killed while performing their professional duty. They were:

• Ihor Hudenko, a Ukrainian photographer/video blogger, disappeared during shelling in Kharkiv on February 26, 2022; his body was found on February 27, 2022.
• Yevhen Sakun, a Ukrainian photojournalist for the LIVE publication/ EFE correspondent, was killed in a missile attack on the Kyiv TV tower on March 1, 2022.
• Brent Anthony Renaud, an American journalist/former correspondent for The New York Times/reporter for Time/documentarian/winner of the Peabody Award, was shot dead by Russian soldiers at a checkpoint in Irpin on March 13, 2022.
• Pierre Zakrzewski, an Irish photojournalist for Fox News, was killed on March 14, 2022, together with Oleksandra Kuvshynova, when their car came under fire in the village of Horenka, Kyiv Region.
• Oleksandra Kuvshynova, a Ukrainian journalist/fixer/producer of Fox News, was killed on March 14, 2022, together with Pierre Zakrzewski.
• Oksana Baulina, a Russian journalist for The Insider/an activist of the Anti-Corruption Foundation of Alexey Navalny, was killed on March 23, 2022, under Russian shelling in Kyiv.
• Maksym Levin, a Ukrainian photojournalist/correspondent for LB.ua and other publications, went missing on March 13, 2022, and was found dead near the village of Huta-Mezhyhirska, Kyiv Region, on April 1, 2022. An investigation by Reporters Without Borders showed that he was tortured and executed.
• Mantas Kvedaravicius, a Lithuanian filmmaker and documentary filmmaker, was killed on April 2, 2022, while trying to leave the city of Mariupol, where he had been documenting the situation for many years.
• Yevhen Bal, a Ukrainian journalist/writer/veteran of the Soviet submarine fleet/volunteer, was killed on April 2, 2022, after being tortured by the Russian military in Mariupol.
• Roman Nezhyborets, a Ukrainian media personality/video engineer of the Chernihiv channel Dytynets, was killed in the village of Yahidne near Chernihiv in early April 2022.
• Zoreslav Zamoiskyi, a Ukrainian journalist for the Gromada Priirpinya and Information Portal publications, his body with signs of violent death was found in Bucha, Kyiv Region, on April 13, 2022.
• Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, a French journalist for the BFMTV channel, was killed from a shrapnel wound on May 30, 2022, due to Russian shelling while covering the evacuation of the civilian population from the city of Sievierodonetsk (Luhansk Region).

Eternal memory to them! Journalists are important! Glory to Ukraine!

National Union of Journalists of Ukraine