Ann Cooper (Professor Emerita, Columbia Journalism School) wrote an article for CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists) about the Ukrainian journalists who have left the profession to take up arms in defense of their country. At least 10 have died as combatants.

There’s no official estimate of how many Ukrainian journalists have joined the military since February, a move that seemingly contradicts the journalistic norm of impartiality, even in wartime. But for some who have made that move, the decision was crystal clear.

 

“It’s simple: the scale of the [Russian] invasion was such that the existence of Kyiv and the country as a whole was in doubt,” former Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reporter Stanyslav Aseyev told CPJ by messaging app. “Had Ukraine disappeared, journalism would have been meaningless.”