CPJ calls for an end to ‘systematic pressure’ on Ukrainska Pravda

“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 short of anti-democratic given the essential role of the newsroom in upholding a core national value of freedom of the press,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Ukrainian authorities must never discourage investigative journalistic work, whether during periods of peace or war.”

Ukrainska Pravda published an October 9 statement saying it was experiencing “ongoing and systematic pressure” from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office to stop government officials from speaking with “certain journalists.” UP’s program director, Andrii Bystrov, told CPJ that government officials regularly received directives not to talk to the outlet on certain matters. 

The outlet alleged that the president’s office was also pressuring private companies to pull advertising from the outlet and some advertisers had withdrawn following calls from the office.

Bystrov said efforts to block information “typically intensify following the publication of high-profile investigative reports or analytical articles concerning the political situation in Ukraine.” In an emotional August exchange between Zelenskyy and UP journalist Roman Kravets, Zelenskyy accused the outlet of taking instructions from other political forces to shape its news coverage—instructions known as “temniki.” This practice was denied by Ukainska Pravda editor-in-chief Sevgil Musaieva.

Two Ukrainska Pravda journalists, Georgy Gongadze and Pavel Sheremet, have been killed in connection with their work since the outlet’s founding in 2000; others, including Musaieva, have been obstructed and threatened over their work. Several other Ukrainian investigative journalists have also faced surveillance, violence, and intimidation in connection with their work since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country. 

CPJ emailed Zelenskyy’s office for comment but did not immediately receive any response.