Welcome to The Fix’s weekly news digest! Every week, we bring you important news stories  from the world of media – and try to put them in a wider context.

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As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, Ukraine’s media sector continues to fight for its future.

According to recent estimates, Ukraine’s GDP Russia has destroyed over $100 billion of Ukraine’s economic assets. The incredible economic costs of the war will surely affect the media sector in the long run. 

In the short run, however, a more pressing task is to survive and to cover the war effectively. A large fundraising campaign organised by The Fix and partner organisations already raised over 2.8 million euros to support Kyiv Independent and other Ukrainian media outlets; the consortium that launched the campaigns also works to support the Ukrainian newsrooms operationally and logistically.

More from The Fix: Ukraine support: What has been achieved so far

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Reporters’ physical security in Ukraine is far from being guaranteed. In addition to last week’s death of camera operator Yevhenii Sakun, “Russian troops have injured at least three journalists from international outlets,” according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Journalists also suffer in the context of broader attacks on civilians perpetrated by Russian forces as Russia increasingly turns to the brutal tactics of shelling residential areas and targeting non-combatants.

More from The Fix: Fact-checking Russian propaganda during the war: An interview with Detector Media

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In the meanwhile, Russia continues its drift towards total media isolation that started last week. 

After the parliament approved the bill imposing long prison sentences for “spreading fakes” about the Russian military, multiple news outlets either closed voluntarily, were forced to close, or ceased reporting on the war in Ukraine. The list of outlets that were blocked and/or stopped operations includes Echo of Moscow, Dozhd TV, Meduza, RFE/RL, BBC, Mediazona, Echo of Moscow, Dozhd TV, and many others.

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Russian crackdown on freedom of speech also includes social media. Facebook and Twitter have already been blocked in the country. The government is planning to ban Instagram as well, along with recognising Facebook’s parent company Meta as an “extremist organisation” and cracking down on its Russia-based employees.

Platforms and media outlets are working to bypass censorship. Twitter launched a version of its site that can bypass blocks using the Tor browser, while news outlets are actively spreading instructions on how to use them bypassing the blocks, such as via dedicated mobile apps, using VPN, or reading them on Telegram and via newsletters. 

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International newsrooms have been affected as well. The New York Times took an unprecedented step of pulling out all its journalists from Russia – the newspaper will continue reporting on the country from abroad. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty closed their Russian operations. (In the meanwhile, however, the BBC said it would resume reporting from Russia after a four-day break).

Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash