Ukrinform journalists barred from filming aftermath of Russian bomb strike on outdoors centre
Ukrinform correspondents in Zaporizhzhia (photojournalist Dmytro Smolyenko and reporter Olha Zvonaryova) were threatened by the Zaporizhzhia Forestry Department chief Hryhoriy Cherneta and barred from filming the aftermath of the Russian strike on an outdoors centre in Kanivske village, Zaporizhzhia oblast.
Dmytro Smolyenko reported this to Natalia Vyhovska, the regional representative of the Institute of Mass Information.
Smolyenko said that he and Olha Zvonaryova arrived at the outdoor centre hit by a Russian high-explosive aircraft bomb (FAB-500) at 8:20 a.m. on August 6 to film the aftermath of the war crime committed by the Russian troops targeting the civilian population.
“We had coordinated in advance with Anna Tkachenko, chief of communications at the Zaporizhzhia Oblast National Police. Moreover, reporters with Zaporizhzhia-based media were already working there without hindrance. However, arriving there, we could not enter the premises for a long time, as we were being obstructed by a man behaving aggressively. He did not introduce himself and, upon seeing the journalists, immediately started shouting and swearing obscenely. The man was categorically opposed to us driving closer to the site, stood in the middle of the road and did not let us pass,” said Smolyenko.
The man who was obstructing the journalists' work asked if they had a filming permit.
“Olha Zvonaryova said that our trip had been approved by the police press service and showed the Ministry of Defense press ID. But even after that, the man continued to use obscene language and demand that we leave the location. He threatened to physically attack us, too,” the journalist said.
Dmytro Smolyenko. Photo from Dmytro Smolyenko's Facebook page
Smolyenko says they asked the man to introduce himself and he gave his name and position: Hrihoriy Cherneta, head of the Zaporizhzhia branch of the Zaporizhzhia Forestry Department of the state-owned company Forests of Ukraine.
“Our work on the ground involved filming and recording comments directly at the outdoor centre where the attack occurred, and we were also supposed to take several photos of the burning area of the forest. The State Emergency Service and the police were working there, and we were supposed to film them working, among other things. Cherneta was preventing us from doing our job all this time, provoking a conflict,” the photojournalist said.
In the end, the journalists managed to get to the centre and report from the scene. On August 7, Dmytro Smolyenko filed a statement with the police on obstruction of legal reporting.
Russian troops dropped at least 4 FAB-500 bombs on an outdoor centre in Kanivske (Zaporizhzhia oblast) in the morning of August 6, 2025. Two people died on the spot; 13 others, including two children, were injured. The centre was damaged, with some bungaloos being destroyed, and some customers' cars burning down.
Updated at 13:00
The police have opened a criminal case under Part 1 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Obstruction of legal reporting”), as reported to an IMI representative by Anna Tkachenko, Zaporizhzhia Oblast Police chief of communications.
According to Tkachenko, the police received Dmytro Smolyenko's statement on August 7. In it, the journalist reported that at about 8:20 a.m. on August 6, in Kanivske village, Zaporizhzhia district, at the entrance to the outdoors center affected by Russian bombs earlier, a citizen who claimed to be the head of the forestry department provoked a conflict and obstructed their filming, thereby violating the media worker’s right to perform legal journalistm.
The investigation is underway.
On September 29, 2024, residents of a Zaporizhzhia private sector, which was targeted by Russian anti-aircraft missiles, interfered with the work of Elmira Shahabudtdynova, a journalist with the local website 061.ua, as she was photographing the aftermath of the Russian strike. The people blocked her way, insulted her, threatened her, and demanded she delete the pictures she had already taken. They claimed that journalists only make things worse and that it is them who cause the shelling. The journalist called the police and filed a statement on obstruction of legal reporting. After an address by the IMI, the police opened a case under Part 1 of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (obstruction of legal professional work of journalists).
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