Let’s help The Kyiv Independent and Meduza – The Real Russia because brave journalism is also part of bringing the war to an end

Let’s help The Kyiv Independent and Meduza – The Real Russia because brave journalism is also part of bringing the war to an end

Let’s support journalistic reporting on the dramatic situation in Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent, an Ukrainian English-language news site, needs help and can be funded via their Patreon and GoFundMe.

The same goes for the Russian independent English-language newspaper, MeduzaMeduza – The Real Russia, whose platforms have been blocked by the authorities these days, which can be given support at support.meduza.io.

In addition, social networks such as Facebook and Twitter have already been suspended.

As we know, for the Russian people in particular, it is difficult to follow news free from the vetoes imposed by the Kremlin. These constraints are getting heavier and heavier, seeing that just two days ago a law was approved that increases to fifteen years in prison the penalty for those who publish what Putin considers fake news.  

This is only the most recent stage in a long process that is leading Russia to an almost total information blockade and that could culminate with the complete disconnection of the entire nation from the Internet on 11 March, while many international media (including the BBC, Bloomberg and our Rai) have suspended their news services in Russia precisely because of the restrictions on the press. 

According to the story by Today, the Kyiv Indipendent is a small miracle: https://www.today.it/mondo/guerra-russia-ucraina-ultime-notizie-giornale-kyiv-independent.html

“It is only three months old, has little money and no ‘strong power’ to back it up, yet it manages to authoritatively report on what is happening in these days between Russia and Ukraine. This is the small miracle achieved by the Kyiv Independent, the daily newspaper born after the controversial closure of the Kyiv Post. The editorial staff consists of 30 journalists, editors, photographers, videomakers, managers and marketers, all with one dream: to do independent journalism. Story after story, the Kyiv Independent has earned a place in the media landscape, even more so now with the war. It is considered a reliable source and its news is picked up by newspapers around the world, which have no staff on the field.

The Kiyv Independent, as we reported, is only three months old. Its birth was not easy. On 8 November 2021, the Kyiv Post, Ukraine’s oldest English-language newspaper, was terminated. After years of wrangling with the oligarchs and attempts at censorship, the publisher, Adnan Kivanun – a Ukrainian businessman of Syrian origin and a real estate tycoon – gave up and closed it down. The reporters and the rest of the staff were dismissed. Some of them, however, raised their heads again. “Ukraine needs English-language journalism (to reach more people outside its borders, ed.)of the highest quality and our community needs a news source it can trust […]. We will continue to tell the truth about Ukraine: the truth about politics and reform, war and culture, entrepreneurship and scientific discoveries” and thus the Kyiv Independent was born.

Olga Rudenko, the 32-year-old former deputy editor of the Kyiv Post, is at the helm of the newspaper and is currently showing the world on Twitter what is going on. The editorial team is gaining support and, not least, the funds to continue. The initial capital came from a European emergency grant and today it is supported only by readers’ contributions. To do this, it has opened two fundraising campaigns, on Patreon and GoFundMe”.