Communicating with residents of Orikhiv just five kilometers from the front line, meeting with journalists from Zaporizhzhia, the head of the local military administration, making decisions regarding support for local media… The program of the visit to the south of Ukraine by a delegation of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), led by its President Sergiy Tomilenko, was very intense.
“Today, we again feel journalist solidarity”
On March 6, on Monday, representatives of the Union and rescuers visited the front-line town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia Region.
The visit began with the town council and communicating with Deputy Mayor of Orikhiv Svitlana Mandrych. She said that people’s everyday life is under constant enemy fire. Currently, the population of the settlement is 1,400. In addition, Sergiy Tomilenko visited several Invincibility Centers to see their work and talk to the local population.
Together with Svitlana Karpenko, the editor-in-chief of the Orikhiv newspaper called Trudova Slava, representatives of the NUJU visited the destroyed newsroom of the publication. According to residents, they need to receive Ukrainian news since there is no mobile phone or Internet connection in the town. The power supply is available only on one street, and the radio broadcasts Russian propaganda only.
The NUJU is now actively conducting consultations with local journalists and helping Trudova Slava’s newsroom to resume its work after its earlier closure.
“We are proud of our colleagues who restore the publication of newspapers in the de-occupied and front-line territories, where there is often no alternative to these newspapers,” emphasized Sergiy Tomilenko. “With the assistance of the NUJU, it has been possible to print at least one issue of more than twenty front-line newspapers. Most of them, having received support from the Union, foreign benefactors, and local communities, continue to be published.”
Revival of local publications, first of all, in the de-occupied and near-front territories, is one of the most important priorities of the NUJU.
“Svitlana Karpenko had an emotionally hard time when we arrived at the newsroom, where the windows were broken, and there was destruction from the Russian shelling,” noted Sergiy Tomilenko. “But Svitlana was inspired by communicating with compatriots waiting for their native newspaper. The NUJU showed solidarity with Trudova Slava five years ago when we invited journalists from all over Ukraine to Orikhiv, where local officials pressured the newspaper. Now, we come again to help both colleagues and the community.
Svitlana Karpenko notes that for the first time, she really felt the meaning of the word ‘solidarity’ exactly when, in the summer of 2017, many colleagues from different parts of Ukraine came to support her.
“Today, when the Union helps us revive the newspaper, we again feel journalist solidarity,” she adds. “Our newspaper has not been published for over a year; we have lost subscribers and advertising. But our compatriots remember and love us. When I said today that we are reviving the issue of Trudova Slava, their faces lit up. They said they were waiting for the newspaper!”
In Zaporizhzhia, a delegation of the NUJU visited the scene of a tragedy that occurred on March 2 due to a Russian rocket hitting an apartment building. 13 people, including an 8-month-old girl, were killed there.
NUJU representatives met with freelance photojournalist Andrii Andriienko and handed him a helmet with the inscription PRESS (the journalist had only a bulletproof vest), a Canon camera, and a sleeping bag from the German government.
“Part of the region’s territory is occupied, but the heart of Zaporizhzhia is beating, and the victory of Ukraine is approaching.”
NUJU members from the capital also took part in an extended meeting of the Zaporizhzhia regional organization of the NUJU and the team of the Journalists’ Solidarity Center in Zaporizhzhia. Andrii was accepted into the ranks of the NUJU.
“Unfortunately, because of this insidious war, part of the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Region is currently occupied, but the heart of the city is beating, and the victory of Ukraine is approaching,” said Sergiy Tomilenko, speaking at the meeting. “We must support journalists as much as possible. In the last year, the work schedule of the Union began early in the morning and lasted until late in the evening because we had to help those colleagues who remained in the occupied territories, support those who left, provide protective equipment to those who perform their professional duty in dangerous conditions, find funds for those journalists who during the war do not have the opportunity to receive a salary. We focus on ensuring that the Ukrainian media have the strength to survive and continue their important work.”
Sergiy Tomilenko thanked the Zaporizhzhia regional organization of the NUJU and the Zaporizhzhia Journalists’ Solidarity Center for taking care of the needs of both local journalists and displaced media workers from the occupied territories, creating a truly warm family atmosphere. The Zaporizhzhia Center received the Special Award called Information Front 2023. In addition, the Center received a tablet from the Norwegian Union of Journalists and a Canon camera from the German government.
Special honors were also awarded to trainer-consultant of the Center on security issues/head of the media relations and public work department of the State Emergency Situations Service (SESS) Yuliya Barysheva; Ukrinform photojournalist Dmytro Smoliienko; and journalists Kateryna Klochko; Valentyn Terletskyi; Svitlana Karpenko; Olena Sopina; Olena Shevchuk; Andrii Andriienko; and Svitlana Zalizetska.
As you know, Svitlana Zalizetska was forced to leave her occupied hometown of Melitopol because of her patriotic position. Wanting to force Svetlana to cooperate, the occupiers took her elderly father hostage and released him only due to an information campaign conducted by the NUJU.
“Let me hug you,” the journalist said to Sergiy Tomilenko upon receiving the award. “I didn’t know who to turn to for help… I called you and talked to you like a family member. You saw through my problem, and the Union helped free dad from captivity….”
Svitlana Zalizetska thanked her Zaporizhzhia colleagues who helped her to change in her new place. “You have become a family for me,” said the journalist.
In Zaporizhzhia, the President of the NUJU presented the first issue of the revived newspaper called Chervonyi Promin, which was published in the Zaporizhzhia District but had to cease printing for a long time after the start of the war.
“There is a war going on in Ukraine not only on the battlefield but also in the information space”
At the Head Office of the State Emergency Situations Service in the Zaporizhzhia Region, the President of the NUJU met with Head of the Department/Major General of the Civil Protection Service Oleksii Lepskyi. During the meeting, Sergiy Tomilenko handed over a letter of thanks to the Major General and appreciated the practical cooperation of rescuers and journalists. In turn, Lepskyi reported on the situation in the region and the work of rescuers.
Sergiy Tomilenko also attended educational training on the rules of providing first aid and behavior during shelling. The organizers of the educational event were the Vohnyk Zaporizhzhia non-governmental organization headed by Ivan Zdorovets and the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Emergency Service rescuers. Participants in the event were journalists from regional mass media. Media representatives received expert answers to topical questions regarding various aspects of life safety during the war and took part in practicing the skills.
There was also a meeting between Sergiy Tomilenko and Head of the regional organization of the NUJU/Head of the Zaporizhzhia Military Administration Yurii Malashko. During the meeting, the parties discussed the issue of strengthening cooperation between the regional military administration and the NUJU.
According to Yurii Malashko, the war in Ukraine goes on not only on the battlefield but also in the information space.
“Unfortunately, about 70% of the region’s territory is occupied, and the people there do not have enough information about the unoccupied territory of Ukraine. We know that the occupiers are closing all communication channels so that people listen only to Russian propaganda,” said the head of the Regional Military Administration.
In turn, Sergiy Tomilenko emphasized that the critical task of Ukrainian journalists today is to resist the occupiers through the provision of the truthful and latest information to our citizens, primarily residents of the de-occupied and front-line territories.
“Today, more than ever, it is important for us to unite and inspire each other,” said Sergiy Tomilenko.
At the same time, the NUJU President emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation between the military administration and the Zaporizhzhia Journalists’ Solidarity Center to develop and implement effective countermeasures against enemy propaganda.
Nataliya Kuzmenko, the head of the Zaporizhzhia branch of the NUJU, noted that there are currently more than 60 relocated journalists in the region receiving humanitarian and psychological assistance. During the meeting, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional organization invited the head of the Regional Military Administration to hold a press conference for media workers in the office of the Journalists’ Solidarity Center shortly.
In Zaporizhzhia, Sergiy Tomilenko met with Maksym Brovchenko, who is under the care of the NUJU, and took part in a master class organized by the boy.
Maksym Brovchenko (Cosmo Max) is a boy with autism who is fond of drawing and space and dreams of becoming an astrophysicist. He was born and raised in Berdiansk. Because of the war, he was forced to evacuate from the city with his mother. The boy paints pictures, sells them, and directs the proceeds to help the Armed Forces. Maksym is supported by the NUJU in every possible way, popularizing his paintings and fundraising for the army initiated by him.
During the visit to Zaporizhzhia, the NUJU team, headed by its President Sergiy Tomilenko, met with Maksym at a city Invincibility Center. Sergiy Tomilenko presented the boy with felt-tip pens and a power bank. Maksym organized a sponge painting master class for those present. Maksym promised to create one of the future paintings, especially for the NUJU.
NUJU information service
