“It was the day that changed us all,” tweeted Ukrainian journalist Olga Rudenko on Thursday, February 24, before Russian troops closed in on Kyiv Friday. Rudenko’s tweet included a picture of herself sitting on the floor of one of the capital city’s subway stations as she, along with many other Ukrainians, sought shelter from the Russian attack.
Earlier, Rudenko, the editor of the independently funded Kyiv Independent, had been reporting out on the streets about Russia’s invasion. “The city is in a state of shock,” she said in a video posted to her Twitter feed.
Below, CPJ rounded up some of the most poignant local commentary from journalists about the invasion.
Olga Rudenko, editor of Kyiv Independent, English-language Ukrainian news site funded by supporters and a grant from the European Endowment for Democracy:
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“The mood here is rather grim. Even when you make eye contact with strangers in the street, you have this feeling of anxiety and grimness because the general feeling is nobody knows where is safe to be right now.”
Kristina Berdynskykh, journalist at independent newsmagazine Novoye Vremya:
“Life in Kyiv. After getting home after a night in the metro [station], you hear the sound of sirens, which means it’s time to head back to the bomb shelter.”
Жизнь в Киеве. Вернувшись домой после ночи в метро, слышишь звук сирены, значит снова нужно идти в убежище #Ukraine #Kyiv
— Kristina Berdynskykh (@berdynskykh_k) February 25, 2022
“Sitting in the metro with my 17-year old relative, Nastia, who is from Kherson [a city in southern Ukraine on the Black Sea]. ‘Out there where a fire burns for the right to live freely,’ she sings while we still have a signal. Kyiv is facing a terrifying night, but believes in its future.”
Nataliya Gumenyuk, freelance journalist and founder of independent Ukrainian media research startup Public Interest Journalism Lab:
A Russian independent journalist called me for a quote after Russia launched airstrikes all over Ukraine. She started begging for forgiveness for what her country is doing and may do to mine. We talked, and cried.
My articles on how it started @guardianhttps://t.co/uo7TaF9stW — Nataliya Gumenyuk (@ngumenyuk) February 24, 2022
Katerina Sergatskova, editor-in-chief of independent news website Zabornaya Media:
Today is super shiny in Kyiv. It feels like it’s a fake sun, not our sun that we used to see. Like somebody took the real world from us, and now we are in a fake one, on the other side of a black mirror.
— katerina sergatskova (@KSergatskova) February 25, 2022
Anastasiya “Nastya” Stanko, 2018 recipient of CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award, co-founder and adviser at independent media channel Hromadske:
“3:50 in the morning. My one-year-old son is asleep next to me. We’re in Kyiv. And in addition to my son, there are tens of thousands of children. Just like in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Mariupol. It’s all so unjust.”
3:50 ранку. Біля мене сопе однорічний син. Ми в Києві. І разом з моєю дитиною в цьому місті зараз сопуть десятки тисяч малюків. Як і в Харкові, Дніпрі, Маріуполі. Як же все це несправедливо.
— Nastya Stanko (@StankoNastya) February 24, 2022
Anastasiia Lapatina, journalist at the Kyiv Independent
This used to be my road home. Now it’s blown up to prevent Russian tanks from entering Kyiv pic.twitter.com/9dSIYRgeHt
— Anastasiia Lapatina (@lapatina_) February 25, 2022
Veronika Melkozerova, executive editor of independent English-language news website The New Voice of Ukraine, posting about her grandmother’s meat patties.
Another babushka update. She tried to get to us by public transport under Russian shelling. To bring the kotletki. Omg!
— Nika Melkozerova (@NikaMelkozerova) February 25, 2022
Committee to Protect Journalists