Media Center Ukraine Producer Department

Valerii Zarubin, Ihor Osetsymskyi and Bohdan Stankevych founded the company BlueBird in 2023. The company has grown from a volunteer initiative into a manufacturer of military radio electronics. BlueBird initially focused on developing FPV drones, but over time expanded its range of equipment for the Ukrainian military.

Today, the company’s flagship products are electronic warfare (EW) systems “Hrets.” The team is ready to organize a media visit for journalists and demonstrate testing of FPV drones against electronic warfare systems at a testing range.

Journalists can speak with the founders and the production team online or in person, by prior arrangement.

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.

Marking the 4th anniversary of the russian occupation of the village of Yahidne, the Public Interest Journalism Lab (PIJL) has produced an audio guide titled “Yahidne. A Village in Captivity.”
The presentation took place on March 3 in Yahidne itself, in the Chernihiv region, where 368 local residents became victims of russian war crimes.

It was on March 3, 2022, that russian troops herded almost all residents of the village into the basement of the local school, including dozens of elderly people, children, and infants. They were held there for nearly a month and used as a human shield, forbidden to leave the cramped space while russian soldiers set up a military headquarters inside the school building. Under these horrific conditions, ten people died in the basement.

The audio guide is a documentary tour of the site of a war crime — the school grounds and its basement.
The English-language version is narrated by American historian Timothy Snyder, while the voices of Yahidne residents in English are read by American writer and journalist Anne Applebaum, Canadian politician Khrystya Freeland, British journalist and propaganda researcher Peter Pomerantsev, American journalist Sabra Ayres, American-French writer Jonathan Littell, and American historian Marcy Shore.

The audio guide is available in Ukrainian and English on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
A QR code with the link is displayed on banners next to the school, which continues to be visited by tourists and foreign delegations.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with representatives of the Public Interest Journalism Lab online or in person in Kyiv.

Background: The PIJL team has a unique connection to the village community, as its journalists were among the first to visit the liberated Chernihiv region in April 2022.

Based on testimonies documented from Yahidne residents, the team produced a documentary film, which—together with a written report from the village—was published in TIME magazine in an issue dedicated to the publication’s centennial. In addition to English, the film has been translated into eight other languages: Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, and French.The story of Yahidne was also included in the reportage book “The Scariest Days of My Life”, which became a historical record of the first year of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

• casualties
• dead
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.

HALO Ukraine deminers are currently working in the deoccupied territories of Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.

By prior arrangement, journalists can cover their work and learn about the challenges these specialists face. And, if possible, talk to people who changed their professions and went into demining with the start of the full-scale invasion.

For reference: HALO Ukraine is the Ukrainian program of The HALO Trust, the world’s largest non-governmental non-profit organization for humanitarian demining. The HALO Trust has been clearing mines and explosive ordnance in 30 countries around the world for the past 38 years.

HALO Ukraine has been operating in eastern Ukraine since 2016. Its goal is to save lives, return land to communities, and move the country forward on the path to recovery. After russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the team expanded its activities and is now clearing land in six regions: Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Kherson. The Ukrainian team employs nearly 1,400 people, 30% of whom are women.

April 4 is International Mine Awareness Day.

As a reminder, on April 2, 2022, the Kyiv region was liberated from the occupiers. Also in April 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the Chernihiv region from russian invaders.

• Chernihiv
• Kyiv
• demining

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.