Ukraine remembers Georgiy Gongadze and journalists killed during Russia’s war
A memorial service was held in Kyiv on Sept. 16 for murdered journalist Georgiy Gongadze and other Ukrainian journalists who have lost their lives, 26 years after Gongadze disappeared in a case that became a defining moment for press freedom in Ukraine.
The service took place outside St. Nicholas Naberezhny Church, where Gongadze is buried. Sept. 16 has been observed as a day of remembrance for Ukrainian journalists since 2007.
At least 156 Ukrainian and foreign journalists and media workers have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while at least 28 Ukrainian journalists remain in Russian captivity.
Among those attending the memorial was Olena Rudenko, the sister of journalist Iryna Levchenko from Russian-occupied Melitopol, who was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Russian-controlled court.
“There are no former journalists,” Rudenko said of her sister, who recently turned 65. “She is retired, but she continued to follow her calling and fulfill her duty to the country.”
Gongadze, a journalist known for investigating the government of then-President Leonid Kuchma, disappeared in Kyiv on Sept. 16, 2000. His decapitated body was discovered outside the capital later that year.
Four police officers were convicted over the killing, including former senior police official Oleksii Pukach, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2013. Gongadze’s family has maintained that those who ordered the journalist’s murder have never been brought to justice.