Zolochiv, Ukraine — It’s a cold, foggy morning in early November, and Myroshnyk Vassyl Savych is driving north on a narrow road in eastern Ukraine towards the Russian border. He’s headed to villages where, owing to increasing exposure to Russian fire, only a fraction of residents remain. The war has cut them off from regular services. They no longer receive mail, and Russian transmitters often overpower or interfere with their Ukrainian mobile-phone signals. Before large-scale signal jamming was introduced to counter drones, Russian television and radio channels were accessible on televisions and radios in border-area communities.
In his trunk are bundles of Zorya Visnyk (The Dawn Bulletin), a local newspaper that Vassyl edits and delivers to front-line communities in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. The newspaper doesn’t turn a profit, and distribution is dangerous, but Vassyl says it’s often the only reliable source of news that residents get all week.
Having documented the bombing of civilians in his hometown of Zolochiv, also in eastern Ukraine, when the Russian invasion began in February 2022, the editor says he feels compelled to set the record straight, village by village.
“When hospitals or homes are hit, Russian officials claim they were military targets,” he says. “Restoring the truth is our only defence.”
The morning fog reduces visibility to just a few metres on the road ahead, which Vassyl welcomes.
“That’s good for us,” he says reassuringly. “We might not be chased by the drones.”
The asphalt is broken and uneven, having been shredded by artillery strikes, military vehicles and years of neglect. Most drivers avoid this road, but those who don't tend to head south, away from the front line.
Vassyl continues north.