Olha Danyliuk: Journalists are being tortured and killed. Don’t let Ukrainian voices be silenced

May 20, 2025 | DEMOCRACY, NEWSROOM, SECURITY & DEFENSE, WAR IN UKRAINE

Key Takeaways:

  • Ukrainian Journalists Are Targets: Reporters like Victoria Roshcha have been murdered in captivity. Others remain detained or traumatized after surviving conditions in occupied territories.
  • International Platforms Must Do More: Ukrainian journalists are underrepresented in global media spaces, while even Russian liberal voices are given more airtime.
  • Solidarity Must Be Tangible: Financial aid, media platforms, and government-backed networking are needed to sustain and protect Ukraine’s independent media.
  • Amplifying Ukrainian Voices Is a Moral Obligation: Those living through war and repression must be heard — not overshadowed — in the global narrative.

Transcript – Olha Danyliuk

Editor-in-Chief, Volynska Gazeta; Co-leader, ViLNi Media Project
Remarks at the Westminster Alliance for Ukraine Event

The situation facing journalism in Ukraine is absolutely heartbreaking. But not because of civil society — on the contrary, Ukrainians strongly support local media. You can see this in the statistics and feel it in the mood of the people.

Still, Ukrainian journalists remain in serious danger.

I want to speak the name of one of them today: Victoria Roshcha. She was a Ukrainian journalist who was murdered in Russian captivity. Her body was returned to Ukraine without eyes or a heart. We still don’t know what exactly happened to her.

And she is not the only one.

There are others — journalists who remain in occupied territories, or who have survived what I can only describe as concentration camps in those areas. One example is Spanish, a Ukrainian journalist who managed to escape captivity and survive.

It’s not enough to remember these names.
We must support these voices — and all Ukrainian journalists — not only with solidarity, but also with concrete help:

  • Financial support
  • International platforms
  • Networking and professional opportunities
  • Government-level partnerships that raise their voices beyond Ukraine

Right now, even so-called liberal Russian media are being given more international platforms than Ukrainian journalists — those who are actually suffering, surviving, and documenting this war.

That is not fair.
We need to listen to Ukrainians more.
Because they are paying the highest price.

 


Truth Matters. Democracy Depends on It