In 2024, 24 Ukrainian media workers were killed by Russia

16.01.2025

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In 2024, Ukraine recorded 268 cases of violations of freedom of speech, with 155 attributed to Russia, as reported by the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) in its “Freedom of Speech Barometer.”

As reported earlier, in 2023 IMI recorded 150 violations of freedom of speech, 67 of which were caused by Russian troops. In 2024, the negative impact of Russian aggression on Ukrainian media outlets grew significantly.

According to IMI, 24 media workers were killed in 2024. Two of them were killed while performing their professional activities:

Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who died in Russian custody on Oct. 10, 2024.
Ryan Evans, Reuters safety advisor, killed in Kramatorsk by a Russian strike on Aug. 24, 2024.

It is recorded that 22 media outlet professionals died at the front line. Among them is a journalist from Zaporizhzhia, Oleh Shemchuk, who went missing in September 2022 and was confirmed dead only in April 2024. Former journalists Alla Pushkarchuk and Iryna Tsybukh also died.

Since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion, Russians have killed 95 media professionals, 12 of them while performing their duty. In 2024, Russia committed numerous crimes:

Abduction of journalists in the occupied territories;
Shelling and injuries to journalists: 15 media workers were injured in the attacks, including Viktor Pichugin, journalist and development director of the “Nakypilo” media group, during a double attack;
Destruction and damage to media outlets premises;
Intimidation, threats, and cyberattacks on Ukrainian media outlet websites.

In 2024, IMI recorded 113 violations of freedom of speech against the Ukrainian side. That is more than in 2023 (when 83 such cases were recorded). The main categories of such violations: