Ukraine / Europe & Central Asia

New York, February 3, 2025—Ukraine’s domestic security service (SBU) opened a criminal case on January 28 for “disclosure of state secrets” after independent news outlet Ukrainska Pravda published statements by Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, at a closed-door parliamentary meeting. According to an unnamed source cited in the report, Budanov said that…

New York, January 30, 2025—Ukrainian military officers detained three journalists for eight hours on accusations of “illegal border crossing” on January 6 in Sudzha, a Ukrainian-controlled town in Russia’s Kursk region. The journalists — Ukrainian freelance reporter Petro Chumakov, Kurt Pelda, correspondent with Swiss media group CH Media, and freelance camera operator Josef Zehnder — had army…

Haitian journalist Jean Marc Jean was covering an anti-government protest in Port-au-Prince in February 2024 when he was struck in the face by a gas canister fired by police into the crowd. One of at least five journalists injured while covering civil unrest in the country that month, Jean arrived at the hospital with a…

The Committee to Protect Journalists, in a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on December 19, 2024, asked him to ensure that journalists and media outlets can work freely in Ukraine and that no one responsible for intimidating journalists goes unpunished, following a year marked by several incidents of pressure, intimidation, and surveillance, as well…

New York, November 26, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention of journalist Ediye Muslimova, in Simferopol, the capital of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, and calls on the authorities to stop harassing Crimean journalists. “Ediye Muslimova’s detention is deeply concerning in light of the continuous crackdown on journalists in Ukraine’s Crimea,” said Gulnoza Said,…

New York, October 18, 2024—More than 1,500 emails threatening a bomb attack were sent on October 14 to Ukrainian media outlets, government agencies, schools, business centers, and hotels, as well as dozens of Ukrainian embassies abroad. The sender blamed three journalists with U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) — Iryna Sysak, Valeria Yehoshyna,…

The Committee to Protect Journalists joined nine media and civil society organizations, including five members of the Media Freedom Rapid Response consortium in a letter welcoming the opening of an investigation into the killing of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina, whose death in Russian custody was confirmed to her father by authorities and multiple reports. The signatories urged Russian authorities to make the circumstances…

New York, October 10, 2024—Ukrainian authorities should stop obstructing the reporting of independent news outlet Ukrainska Pravda (UP), the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Thursday. “Leading independent Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda has paid a steep price for a quarter-century of rigorous reporting. The Ukrainian president’s offices’ efforts to block its work are nothing…

New York, October 8, 2024—Ukrainian authorities should swiftly investigate the recent attacks on journalists Yuriy Leskiv, Elmira Shagabuddinova, and Olena Hnitetska, and hold the perpetrators to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. “CPJ condemns the intimidation of journalists Yuriy Leskiv, Elmira Shagabuddinova, and Olena Hnitetska, and calls on Ukrainian authorities to ensure timely…

New York, August 26, 2024 – The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the killing of Reuters safety adviser Ryan Evans in an attack that also injured three journalists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. “The missile strike that killed Reuters safety adviser Ryan Evans and injured three other journalists is a sad and sobering…