Ukraine Threatens Journalists Over War Coverage

Journalists and groups monitoring press freedoms are raising alarms over what they say are increasing restrictions and pressures on the media in Ukraine under the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky that go well beyond the country’s wartime needs.

Analysts say the government’s efforts to control the media appear to be aimed at crimping positive coverage of the opposition and suppressing negative coverage of the government and the military.

“It’s really disturbing,” said Oksana Romanyuk, director of the Institute of Mass Information, a nonprofit that monitors media freedoms. That is particularly true, she said, in a war where Ukraine is “fighting for democracy against the values of dictatorship embodied by Russia.”

They have also acknowledged some self-censorship, holding back on critical coverage of the government to avoid undermining morale or to prevent reports of corruption from dissuading foreign partners from approving aid.

Journalists and media groups say that a string of recent cases have pointed to an increasingly restrictive reporting environment. Ambassadors from the Group of 7, which comprises many of Kyiv’s key military allies, issued a joint statement in January supporting press freedom in Ukraine.

“Media freedom is a fundamental pillar of a successful democracy,” the statement said.

“Self-censorship in Ukraine is a feature of wartime,” said Serhii Sydorenko, editor at European Truth, an independent online news outlet. The situation was “not a problem” and unavoidable during the war, he added, noting that he expected a return to normal when the fighting eventually stops.