Donbass: That's Why I'm Here

Foreign journalists risk lives and careers for revelatory Donbass reports.
In 2014, Vittorio-Nicola Rangeroni, a journalist from Italy, was visiting Kiev. He wanted to explore the ancient city sights, but witnessed a coup d'état instead. Surprisingly, the way Italian media described the unfolding events had nothing in common with what Vittorio had seen in Ukraine. The brutal suppression of dissent, the murder of Donbass civilians by their own government — Western media reported none of this. That is why in 2015 Vittorio went to Lugansk and became a war correspondent himself. The journalist believes people in the West should have an opportunity to learn the true story behind this conflict. Vittorio is not the only one — journalists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Finland go to the most dangerous zones of Donbass every day. They collect locals’ stories and videos to withstand powerful propaganda in their home countries. What motivates them to risk their lives reporting from the cities shelled by the Ukrainian army?