Help journalists in Ukraine

Urgent call from Reporters Without Borders

Dear Friends,

Ukraine is in the throes of a wave of violence that is without precedent since it won independence. The current toll is more than 75 dead and hundreds of wounded since 18 February. Journalists in the field are being deliberately targeted by those who don't want them reporting what they see. More than 180 journalists have been injured since the start of the crisis.

The journalist Vyacheslav Veremiy died of a gunshot injury in Kiev on Wednesday. After being dragged from the taxi taking him to Independence Square, he was beaten and then shot in the abdomen when he showed his press card to his attackers. He was 33.

We returned this morning from an emergency mission carried out jointly in Kiev with other international and Ukrainian NGOs. All the people we spoke to stressed the desperate lack of protective equipment. Thanks to Reporters Without Borders, 90 helmets were distributed but the needs are much greater than that. The acquisition of bulletproof vests is above all essential.

We need your support in the coming hours. We need to make additional payments on Monday evening in order to provide Ukrainian journalists with further assistance. Every donation will be useful and will directly finance the provision of protective equipment in the field next week.
We need 7,000 euros.
You have 72 hours to help us.

Reporters Without Borders is fighting harder than ever to ensure that freely reported news and information is not suppressed in Ukraine.

We are counting on you to make a donation: https://donate.rsf.org/b/my-donation

I thank all of you,

Christophe Deloire

Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel