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.
