Russian forces have escalated their attacks since their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and more than 3.5 million people have fled across Ukraine’s borders to escape the assault. At least five journalists covering the war in Ukraine have been killed. Russian journalists have been detained and threatened during Moscow’s crackdown on independent Russian media, and CPJ Executive Director Robert Mahoney warned that Vladimir Putin has plunged Russia into an information dark age.
Reporters in Ukraine face shelling, shooting and detention as they work to provide vital information about the invasion, a job that they describe as “hard, emotional and painful.” The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for the protection of Ukrainian journalists, along with the international reporters and media workers who join them in covering the conflict, and asked Ukraine to exempt them from compulsory military service.
CPJ is tracking regional press freedom violations below and in its weekly Russia-Ukraine watch.
