The Institute of Mass Information experts recorded 14 freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in April 2026. Nine were committed by Russia, as evidenced by IMI’s monthly monitoring study, the Freedom of Speech Barometer.

Russia’s crimes against the media and journalists in Ukraine included destruction of and damage to media offices, cyber crimes, and judicial pressure.

The deaths of two media workers turned UAF service members* were reported in April:

Ihor Malakhov, filmmaker and servicemember who had been considered missing since 2023. Killed in combat near Stepove village (Donetsk oblast, close to Avdiivka) on 29 December 2023. His body was identified by DNA in 2026.

Viktoria Bobrova, UAF servicewoman and 2+2 TV casting director; press officer with the Mountain Assault Brigade No. 10 “Edelweiss”.

A Russian strike in Pryluky (Chernihiv oblast) on 7 April damaged the city council building. Reporters with Pryluky TV, who were in the building at the time of the attack, evacuated to a bomb shelter in time and were unharmed. However, the team lost two full sets of video equipment in the strike.

The Dnipro-based radio station Europe Plus Dnipro temporarily went off air after a Russian strike in the city on 15 April. A Shahed drone hit the building where the radio station’s office is located, causing them to stop broadcasting for half a day.

The website of the Kharkiv-based news outlet Nakypilo was targeted by hackers based in Russia. The perpetrators tried to overload the website with requests. The page stayed online and no data was compromised.

The Kropyvnytskyi-based regional newspaper Kirovohradska Pravda lost access to their Instagram account, which had over 25.000 followers. The profile is now unavailable and empty. The team does not rule out Russian involvement.

Russian hackers attacked the Freedom TV internal communication system, briefly accessing the channel’s corporate chat. Logins of some staff members were posted online along with screenshots of some official correspondence. A Russian hacker group has claimed responsibility for the attack.