Last Check-In: The Russian Strikes on Ukrainian Hotels Silencing the Press
We invite journalists, editors, media safety professionals, researchers, politicians and activists to join us for the presentation of a new report by RSF and Truth Hounds: «Last Check-In: The Russian Strikes on Ukrainian Hotels Silencing the Press».
- May 16
- 8:45 AM – 10:00 AM
- Lviv, Ukraine (exact location will be shared upon confirmation of registration)
- The event will be held in English.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukrainian hotels across the country have become deliberate targets of Russian strikes. A new report by RSF and Truth Hounds documents 31 attacks on 25 hotels – most of them housing civilians.
The journalistic community has emerged among the primary targets. These attacks resulted in the death of Reuters media professional Ryan Evans and exposed at least 25 media workers to shelling. Systematically justified by Russian propaganda, these strikes appear to be a deliberate attempt to silence the press and curtail independent coverage of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This presentation will explore the following key areas:
- The evidences that hotels were specifically targeted, leading to civilian, among them media professionals, casualties;
- The impact of such attacks on journalists and the evolution of safety protocols in war zones;
- Disinformation narratives employed by Russia to legitimize these strikes;
- A detailed examination of the Kramatorsk hotel strike as a representative case study;
- The legal qualification of these attacks under the Rome Statute and international humanitarian law (IHL).
This presentation was compiled with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. It’s content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the International Renaissance Foundation.