The premises and equipment of Radio Nostalzhi’s newsroom were seriously damaged tonight due to the Russian artillery bombardment of Nikopol.
The leading Nikopol radio station, which also broadcasts to a large part of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Region (near Enerhodar), stopped its broadcasting.
This was reported by the Head of the Nostalzhi radio (VKF TRK TT LLC), Valerii Tereshchenko, in a comment for the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU).
The NUJU expresses solidarity with its Nikopol colleagues and condemns another crime against journalists and the media by the occupiers. The NUJU informs its international partners about the shooting by the Russians of the Nikopol radio station.
Radio Nostalzhi is the main reliable source of daily information for the residents of Nikopol. In addition, it informed the citizens about air alarms.
“The projectile hit the first floor of our building and destroyed it,” said Valerii Tereshchenko. “Our newsroom, located on the second floor, was also significantly damaged. Only one window survived. The roof was blown off over a third of the building, and there is no roof where our hardware is located, and radio hosts work. Therefore, if it rains, our equipment will be destroyed.
The radio cannot work at the moment. The broadcast equipment can still be repaired, but the installation equipment is completely lost. Also, fragments damaged a costly cable that goes to the transmitter antenna.
The police are investigating the scene. The value of the destroyed property is being determined.
“Shelling of Nikopol is carried out from across the Dnipro from about five kilometers. The city suffers constant rocket hits,” added Valerii Tereshchenko.
As the manager of Nikopol radio emphasizes, they will not be able to repair the premises and restore broadcasting on their own; they need external support.
Sergiy Tomilenko, the President of the NUJU, who visited the city of Dnipro two days ago, says that he heard highly favorable reviews from his colleagues there about Radio Nostalzhi, which is the main source of local news in Nikopol.
“Today’s Russian attack, which destroyed the newsroom of radio Nostalzhi, left media workers without the opportunity to work and the local population without access to important operational information,” commented Sergiy Tomilenko. “I have already contacted journalists from Dnipro and Nikopol and assured my Nikopol colleagues of my solidarity with them. We provide emergency support to the radio at the expense of the funds of the International Federation of Journalists. Also, I have already informed the UNESCO headquarters about this yet another war crime by Russia against Ukrainian media workers. We will ask the regional and local authorities, UNESCO, and other international partners to help Nikopol colleagues restore the radio company’s work.
NUJU information service