The Ukrainian media is in an information war, it was said at the “Balkan Disinfo 2025” conference that is being held in Pristina. The panel discussing Ukraine three years after Russia’s aggression, among other things, emphasized that the media there is in crisis and that Russia is trying to silence independent journalists.
Sergiy Tomilenko from Kiev, who heads the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, showed that supporting the media also means protecting democracy against aggression.
“The transformation of Ukrainian media over the past three years has been problematic. Local media outlets have had to adapt to unprecedented challenges, from security to financial ones. Many have lost advertising revenues, and have had to fundamentally restructure their operations or close them down entirely. This situation has become even more critical recently, as donor support has begun to dwindle three years after the invasion. Also, the sudden halt to media aid from the US has shaken the media community, and we have many independent media outlets struggling to survive. And this crisis threatens to do what Russian bombs cannot. And that is to silence the media, independent journalists of Ukraine,” he said.Lyudmila Makey is the first journalist from Ukraine to seek refuge in Kosovo. She said on this panel that colleagues start the conversation every morning with the question "how are you today?"
