February 24: BAJ expresses solidarity and support for Ukrainian colleagues

Rus­si­a’s full-scale war against Ukraine has been ongo­ing for four years. Accord­ing to BAJ part­ners at the Nation­al Union of Jour­nal­ists of Ukraine (NUJU), since the start of the full-scale inva­sion, Russ­ian aggres­sors have killed at least 144 media work­ers.

NUJU exhi­bi­tion Ukraine: Jour­nal­ists in War Zones, which BAJ and the Lithuan­ian Union of Jour­nal­ists brought to Vil­nius in 2024. Pho­to: NUJU

Among those killed: 21 media work­ers who died while per­form­ing their pro­fes­sion­al duties; 10 media work­ers who were killed among the civil­ian pop­u­la­tion; and 113 media rep­re­sen­ta­tives who mobi­lized to defend Ukraine.

These are hor­ri­fy­ing num­bers of human lives. As are the lives of the tens of thou­sands of oth­er Ukraini­ans killed by the invaders.

Despite the hor­ror of war, con­stant shelling of news­rooms and crit­i­cal infra­struc­ture, homes of civil­ians, pow­er out­ages, and lack of basic neces­si­ties, Ukrain­ian jour­nal­ists con­tin­ue their incred­i­bly impor­tant work for soci­ety and for the world — they keep telling the sto­ry of the war.

The truth about the ene­my’s crimes, the resilience of Ukrain­ian soci­ety, the courage of defend­ers, the prob­lems and needs.

The Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists once again reaf­firms its sol­i­dar­i­ty with Ukrain­ian col­leagues, media out­lets, and media orga­ni­za­tions across Ukraine. From the very first days of the full-scale inva­sion, Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists have stood with you — and they will remain by your side until vic­to­ry.

The Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists also extends its grat­i­tude to Belaru­sian jour­nal­ists and inde­pen­dent media who con­tin­ue to report on the war. Despite the risks to your own safe­ty, you keep telling Belaru­sian soci­ety the truth. Beyond report­ing, you sup­port Ukraine, vol­un­teer, and take part in human­i­tar­i­an ini­tia­tives.

On Feb­ru­ary 24 — and every day until vic­to­ry — the Belaru­sian Asso­ci­a­tion of Jour­nal­ists stands in sol­i­dar­i­ty with Ukrain­ian col­leagues.