The Ukrainian man fighting Russian ‘lies’ with his front-line newspaper

A paper connected Russia’s radar

Before delivering quality on the shattered roads of northeastern Ukraine, Vassyl spent years reporting from Zolochiv. He wrote poesy erstwhile helium was a teenager, studied lit astatine assemblage successful Kharkiv, and joined the section Zolochiv paper astatine property 20. At 31, helium stepped distant to enactment for the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, wherever helium investigated corruption successful the district. Ten years later, helium returned to the weekly.

“I can’t ideate doing thing different than journalism,” helium says.

Vassyl is arrogant that his paper was among the archetypal to beryllium de-nationalised successful 2017. He helped draught the authorities that allowed Ukrainian section newspapers to beryllium privatised, a measurement helium saw arsenic indispensable to reducing authorities unit and safeguarding editorial independence.

Throughout the war, helium has continued to analyse section governmental corruption, though helium acknowledges that overmuch of his absorption has shifted to the war.

“Russia feeds connected our interior divisions. Even if holding our ain authorities to relationship remains portion of the job, currently, my precedence is to antagonistic the enemy’s lies,” helium says.

The combat against Russian disinformation has enactment his beingness astatine hazard much than once.

On April 5, 2022, astatine 9:30am, 2 Russian shells deed the weekly's newsroom, partially destroying the 140-year-old gathering that housed it. Vassyl would usually person been sitting astatine his table astatine the time, but helium was spared due to the fact that helium stayed successful furniture longer than accustomed that day.

“I was moving precocious to enactment ... The nighttime before, we partied with 1 of my friends and drank a batch of unspeakable vodka,” helium says with a acheronian laugh. “It is simply a clip of war. The prime of the intoxicant is precise bad, but this is each we had.

“That’s what saved me. I usually aftermath up early, but I was hungover.”

When helium yet got moving and was walking with a friend, 2 shells passed overhead.

"Half a 2nd later, everything exploded.”

Luckily, cipher was successful the newsroom astatine the time. Vassyl’s aged table is inactive covered successful debris much than 3 years later, and helium knows helium had a fortunate escape.

“Given the shrapnel marks successful the room, I would person been dead,” helium says.

His newsroom has been targeted 10 times — doubly with artillery, 8 times with guided aerial bombs — with the latest onslaught hitting successful outpouring 2025.

At the opening of the war, Kremlin quality outlets claimed that Vassyl was liable for spreading disinformation.

“Apparently, I tally a propaganda outlet,” Vassyl says ironically. “In 2022, Russian authorities tv aired a study accusing maine of illegally entering 1 of their villages to dispersed mendacious information.

“I person ne'er been there. What I person done, since the commencement of the war, is papers rocket remnants embedded successful the crushed to amusement wherever they came from.”

Tracing the origins of rocket remnants could exposure Russian attacks arsenic warfare crimes oregon violations of planetary law.

“This enactment is the crushed wherefore my newsroom has been targeted,” Vassyl says.

Kostyantyn Neoneta, the newspaper's accountant, delivers the play variation successful Zolochiv, acold from first-person presumption (FPV) drones adjacent the Russian borderline [Louis Lemaire/Al Jazeera]

Following the 2022 penetration and the bombing of its printing property successful Kharkiv, the paper ceased work for astir fractional a year. Russian forces were closing in, prompting galore from Zolochiv to fly to safer areas, astatine slightest temporarily. But Vassyl chose to remain.

“I had to enactment and carnivore witness, but I couldn't bash it if my loved ones were besides successful danger,” helium says, explaining however helium sent his household to occidental Ukraine and past began documenting the demolition engulfing his hometown.

At the time, force forces were little than 10km (6.2 miles) away. With his phone, helium filmed bombings, civilian evacuations and shattered buildings.

“If I didn’t movie what I was seeing with my ain eyes, who would person done it? We unrecorded successful precise distant areas. I had to amusement the satellite what was happening to us.”

Vassyl taught himself however to edit videos, which helium posted connected YouTube and societal media to scope much people.

“The Russians were claiming they were striking bid posts oregon vessel repair facilities,” helium says, inactive outraged. “In reality, they were hitting residential buildings, the infirmary and a kindergarten.”

Kostyantyn delivers the paper successful Zolochiv [Louis Lemaire/Al Jazeera]

When the Ukrainian service began liberating the archetypal villages adjacent Zolochiv, Vassyl became determined to reconstruct entree to quality successful areas that had been deprived of it for six months. He recovered a caller printing property and got to work.

“In these agrarian areas, determination is often nary alternate root for reliable information. People spot us, and we cannot locomotion distant from that,” helium says proudly.

Two members of the newsroom returned to enactment remotely, portion Kostyantyn Neoneta, the newspaper’s accountant, remained successful Zolochiv similar Vassyl.

“I didn’t privation to leave,” says Kostyantyn, who distributes the paper successful the municipality each week by bicycle. “I knew I was acold much utile present than successful different cities.”

In those villages wherever Russian signals bleed into people’s homes, “people are near with propaganda,” Vassyl says, adding, “My ngo is to marque definite it does not happen.”