Yuriy Lukanov, Tetiana Pechonchik

This book tells us about how Russia fought against journalists and freedom of speech during the occupation of Crimea and thereafter. Yuriy Lukanov, a journalist who covered these events, describes not only his own impressions, but also presents us many interviews he conducted with journalists who worked in Crimea at that time. The book shows how Russia systematically fought against free press and free reporting—from simple restriction of access to information to physical beatings and criminal prosecution of journalist. The volume is illustrated with photos by the author and his colleagues.

With a foreword by Taras Kuzio.

Yuriy Lukanov is a freelance journalist living in Kyiv, Ukraine. His articles were published in Kyiv Post, Radio Liberty, Financial Times, UPI, The Atlantic Council, Ukrainska Pravda, LB.ua, Gazeta.ua, Moskovskie Novosti, Texty.org.ua, Novynarnia.

So far, he published the books (in Ukrainian) “The Third President: A Political Portrait of Leonid Kuchma” (Taki spravy, 1997), “Extravaganza of Travels. Travel Notes after a Trip over Six European Countries”, and several books with political epigrams. His war prose “Reporter Volkovsky” was translated into English and published in the US.

Along with the consistent coverage of the tragic events of 2014 and the following years, related to the persecution of free mass media and independent journalists in the Russian-occupied Crimea, Yuriy Lukanov provides us with important documentary evidence about the crimes committed by the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea.
Since Lukanov himself was in Crimea during the days when the peninsula was captured by Russian troops, his personal observations let the reader immerse in a disturbing atmosphere, in which a carelessly spoken word could cost a journalist life or freedom.
—Rephat Chubarov, Head of Crimean Tatar People Majlis


The suppression of media freedom in Russia has been a central strategy for Russia’s current full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Silencing of independent and critical journalism provided the regime with an unprecedented control over the public discourse and extinguished dissenting voices.
This book documents how in 2014, when Russia occupied and illegally annexed Crimea, the suppression of journalism was one of their first and immediate priorities. It is a text-book case study of oppression written often as if in real time. Journalism as eyewitness to history.
—Frane Maroević, Executive Director, International Press Institute


"This book makes an important contribution to documenting the start of the annexation and is another proof that in any war, the media are the first to be attacked. It provides insight into a very important mission that my team and I conducted in Crimea on the eve of the illegal annexation. It was essential for me to be able to talk directly with the journalists facing repression and being under attack so I could give my frank and direct assessment to all 57 OSCE States that there is an ongoing information war in Ukraine."
—Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (2010–2017)