The account of the chairman of the Union of Ukrainian Journalists about the war, Russian propaganda and the current situation in Ukraine

Chairman of the Union of Journalists of Ukraine, Sergiy Tomilenko, in an exclusive interview for The Geopost, has shown the challenges faced by Ukrainian journalists, following the unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine.

He expressed his happiness for the support that the Government of Kosovo has given to journalists from Ukraine, although he said that most journalists dream of living and working in their country, in Ukraine.

Regarding Russian influence in the Western Balkans, specifically in Serbia, Tomilenko has said that Russia does not want to support Serbia or other Western Balkan countries, but it wants to use them.

You can find the full interview below:

The Geopost: Can you describe the current situation in Ukraine, (what can you tell us that the rest of the world doesn't yet know about this war)?

Sergiy Tomilenko:  I think that every democratic country, country with democracy, is already well informed about the reality, about this Russian war in Ukraine, about Russia trying to occupy Ukraine. At this moment, there are hundreds and thousands of journalists covering this war in Ukraine, and only yesterday, some officials of the Ministry of Defense told me that there are more than 5000 war accreditations, cards issued in Ukraine up to this moment, from the days of before the war. So that means Ukrainian media journalists and foreign media journalists are getting accreditation cards, so 5000 accreditations of war journalists, it means that this war is being covered as a live show, as a reality show, so I think that all those who are interested in the Ukrainian topic and this war know everything about it. But in countries where democracy is not a priority, we see that people in these countries, maybe they don't understand, they don't know, but it is evident that now Ukraine is a victim of Russian aggression and we see that Russia as a state is a terrorist state and there are many evidence that Russia organized a genocide on Ukrainians. We saw horrific photos and details from Bucha, from Irpin, which are neighboring cities to Kiev. We saw a lot of horrible videos and photos from Mariupol. We see that Russia not only destroys military sites, but Russia tries to destroy a peaceful country and peaceful people in Ukraine.

The Geopost: Do you have enough help from the West to fight this aggression from Russia?

Sergiy Tomilenko: No, at the moment. We see that many countries and many people who are trying to support us and are supporting us, with humanitarian aid, with weapons. But at this moment we see that Ukraine is fighting for a democratic world, we are fighting for Europe, we are fighting for Western democracy, but only Ukrainians are fighting now, not other countries. It is a hot question, it is a hot topic, but Putin wants to destroy not only Ukraine, Ukraine is the first victim, but not the last. So I think that Ukraine does not get enough weapons, does not get support, and Russia as a giant terrorist country, has more opportunities to destroy, to fight, to have a longer war. But we hope that the world will be more effective in supporting Ukraine and stopping this destructive war.

The Geopost: What should we do to fight this aggression together?

Sergiy Tomilenko: There is a lot of discussion about sanctions, about effectiveness, because maybe Western governments discuss economic sanctions as a good instrument to stop Putin, maybe such a policy is not good to stop Putin, maybe it is a good instrument to unite Putin and the Russians.

Russians are victims of Russian propaganda, and such sanctions and some economic problems are now being presented by Russian propaganda, not as problems organized by Putin and his regime, but as problems that the whole world is trying to fight Russia, the whole world tries to ignore the great Russian state, so we see that only such economic sanctions are not effective to stop Putin, to stop Russia, it is a good instrument to unite the enemies of Ukraine and the democratic world.

The Geopost: How dominant is Russian propaganda in Western media about this war?

Sergiy Tomilenko: Russia funded many projects, funded many journalist experts in Western society, Russia has many agents in the media society in Western countries and it is a hot topic how to stop the influence on the media, on society. We agree, we thank that now the EU commission, Europe, the United States, the government bodies of the United Kingdom are stopping Russian media, but Russia is trying to use social media, trying to use many agents in different spheres, so it is not easy to decide how to stop the spread of disinformation.

We see that now in this war, Russia uses the information weapon as a real weapon, because Russia has a proactive policy of using manipulation and fake information to get results, so it is a very difficult challenge for the west or for any other country. how not to be a victim of Russian propaganda and Russian information terrorism.

The Geopost: According to your knowledge, how much influence does Russia have in the Balkans?

Sergiy Tomilenko: Russia tried to use its influence in Serbia and the Serbian media and tried to use Montenegro and different countries. There are several networks of agents that support Russia and the Russian position and it is very difficult for ordinary people to understand the reality in this sphere.

I think that Russia does not want to support Serbia or support some Balkan countries, they try to use Serbia and use the realities and conflicts in the Balkans to disturb the world, not to support, to help solve problems, but to use disagreements and conflicts to organize larger problems.

The Geopost: How do you comment on Serbia's neutrality in this situation?

Sergiy Tomilenko: I think that Belgrade is not independent in these decisions, and Belgrade is probably trying to exploit the situation to perhaps get financial or economic support from Russia, but we see that Western countries and all of Europe are united, but Serbia has extraordinary behavior and it is a fact that Belgrade is not independent. It is not that Serbia has arguments not to support Ukraine and Ukrainians in need.

The Geopost: What is it like to be a journalist in Ukraine today and do you think there is interest from Ukrainian journalists in coming to Kosovo?

Sergiy Tomilenko: My colleagues from the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and I are happy that the Kosovo government proposed such a large program to support Ukrainian journalists and to support shelters for my colleagues.

If we talk about the reality of Ukrainian journalism now, there are so many challenges for our profession, for Ukrainian media, for journalists now. One of the biggest problems or perhaps the main topic is security and we as a union try to protect our colleagues from the Russian invaders, because up to this moment there are 21 names of Ukrainian journalists and media workers on the list of those killed in Ukraine. killed by Russia. So security is our big priority, the second challenge is to survive, because there are hundreds of journalists who are now trying to survive from dangerous places, dangerous regions, from Donbass, Kherson region, Zaporozhye region, where Russia is trying to invade, tries to destroy our peaceful country.

There are many refugees at home and abroad and many editors and journalists who escaped from dangerous countries and are now discussing the future. Our Union and other NGOs, we are talking, discussing with our international partners and some international governments and we are looking for the implementation of a special program to support Ukrainian journalists and media, to fund maybe some small salaries for journalists in Ukraine, because we try to support them.

So I think that a program like Kosovo's, like the shelters in Kosovo, is a good opportunity for journalists to be sheltered, to have an opportunity to stay in the profession. But the problem for my colleagues, Ukrainian journalists, is that most of us want to live in Ukraine, we want to work in Ukraine.

For this first phase of the war, maybe the first, because it is a month and a half from the beginning of the war and everyone hoped that it would end in a few days or a few weeks, there is not a large number of applications, but we try to we offer the information that this opportunity exists and I think that the rules of this program, the conditions from the Kosovo program are good for journalists, so I hope that next week we will receive many applications. Now Lyudmila Makey, is our first applicant, Ukrainian journalist, who has had a good shelter, has received all the support from the government of Kosovo, from the media sector, so I think that such a great start of this program will be successful in the future. /TheGeopost/