THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
No newspaper in Sumy is printed on site anymore; all publications are now forced to use printing houses in Vinnytsia and other cities across the Dnieper River. Volodymyr Sadivnychyi, the head of the Sumy regional organization of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), spoke about the challenging situation of the media in the Sumy Region during an expanded meeting of the NUJU‘s Board on July 3, 2025.
“I recently spoke with the director of the enterprise that previously printed almost all newspapers in Sumy. The enterprise is working, they print something there, but not a single newspaper for Sumy is published,” said Sadivnychyi.
According to him, the mood among journalists in the region can be characterized as follows: “We do not plan to leave, but if we have to flee, we will flee.” At the same time, the newspapers continue to work actively even in conditions of constant threat.
In the Sumy Region, there are over 145 registered media outlets, including 82 print outlets. Half of the print outlets are scientific journals, and 40 are informational outlets. Among the information outlets, there is one magazine; the rest are newspapers.
“79% of registered media outlets in the Sumy Region operate in the zone of possible hostilities,” noted Sadivnychyi.
The most difficult situation is in the north of the region, where, despite the destruction, two TV channels continue to operate. Yampil.Info is developing especially actively and belongs to Oleksandr Solomko, who has registered sites in the towns of Yampil, Hlukhiv, and Shostka.
“In fact, Yampil.Info is the media outlet that is developing most actively,” noted the head of the organization.
Sadivnychyi also included Kordon.media, whose employee Pavlo Zarva received the Order at the proposal of the Union.
“His photo, bloody hands, clothes covered in blood stains, when he helped save people after a mine hit on one of the central streets of Sumy, flew around all the world’s media,” he said.
Three newspapers from the most dangerous front-line settlements –Bilopilshchyna (Bilopillia), Peremoha (Krasnopillia), and Vorskla (Velyka Pysarivka) – relocated to Sumy.
“The editor of the Krasnopillia newspaper, Oleksandr Motsnyi, serves in the army. They have put the publication of the paper newspaper on pause, maintain their website, and are very active in maintaining pages on social networks,” said the head of the organization.
Sadivnychyiy expressed his special thanks to the Dnipro Journalists’ Solidarity Center (JSC), which took the Sumy Region under its care.
“The newspaper and all of us are very grateful for the selections of grants that the Dnipro JSC sends,” said the head of the regional organization of the NUJU.
“Journalists in the Sumy Region are some of the most active in terms of grant activities, it’s not just me who says this, everyone says this, it’s nice to state this,” emphasized Volodymyr Sadivnychyi.
The war left its mark on the entire region.
“In fact, there are almost no settlements in the Sumy Region where something hasn’t flown in,” stated the head of the regional organization.
The Sumy and Shostka Districts are suffering the most, and recently, the occupiers have taken on the Konotop District and Konotop itself. Recently, there were missile hits in Trostianets. Local media suffered there; they were assisted by the Union and the JSC. Windows in the office of the Ridnyi Krai newspaper in Buryn flew out after the shelling.
“When they hit the center of Sumy and destroyed several university buildings, the windows of the publishing house Mriya and a window of the media Tsukr flew out,” recalled Sadivnychyi. “At the same time, the editor of Tsukr rejected the help, explaining that they had only one window broken, and all the employees are young and can earn their own money.”
After the attacks on the center of Sumy, when the congress center of Sumy State University was destroyed, the organization was unable to hold Journalist’s Day, as it usually did.
“A working group had already been created, everyone liked it, as it was in 2024… but we had previously held all the events in the congress center. The destruction of the congress center had a great impact, and we decided not to hold Journalist’s Day on such a scale,” he explained.
At the same time, Sadivnychyi emphasized the importance of cooperation with the military, as facilitated through NUJU Secretary Volodymyr Danyliuk.
“A huge network of interaction has been established, and materials about our servicemen, defenders of Ukraine, are distributed in various media throughout Ukraine,” said Sadivnychyi.
Despite all the challenges, the media in the Sumy Region continue to operate, adapting to the conditions of war and finding new ways to inform the population in the face of constant danger.
On July 3, 2025, an expanded meeting of the NUJU Board was held. It was attended by more than 50 representatives from the organization’s governing bodies. The main issues on the agenda were: implementation of the priority areas of the NUJU activity in 2025 (safety of journalists, support for prisoners, assistance to front-line media), the activities of the JSC network, support for regional media, as well as organizational issues regarding the creation of new regional structures in Odesa. The participants unanimously adopted a statement of solidarity with Ukrainian journalists in russian captivity and a resolution on the need for systematic support for local media.
NUJU Information Service
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