Ukraine investigative reporters facing increasing ‘intimidation’: RSF

PARIS: Ukrainian investigative journalists focused on exposing corruption in the country have in recent weeks been facing increasing acts of intimidation, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) warned on Thursday.

“Several worrying cases of intimidation have emerged in recent weeks and we hope this is not a trend that will continue,” the group´s Ukraine specialist Pauline Maufrais told AFP.

In a statement, RSF said it is “concerned about the increasing pressure on the media and calls for investigations to be conducted thoroughly, transparently and independently.”

It listed three cases that took place or were exposed within the space of a week including that of Yuriy Nikolov, an investigative reporter for the anti-corruption media outlet Nashy Hroshy.

On 14 January, masked individuals tried to force their way into his Kyiv apartment while at the same time threatening him with being forcibly enlisted to fight in the Ukrainian army against the Russian invasion.

Odesa-based journalist Iryna Hryb, who reported on cereal exports in the region, found a device in her car that could be used to listen to her phone calls or conversations with passengers and to track her movements.