Olha Herasymiuk, Chair of the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting, emphasized the importance of digital media security, which is one of the Russian Federation’s main targets in its hybrid aggression against Ukraine.
She made these remarks during the International Conference on Media Literacy, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.
“Another critical area of work for the media regulator is digital security. This is a reality that has become part of our lives and with which we must learn to coexist… Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russian hackers have carried out, according to some reports, more than 120 cyberattacks on Ukrainian media. After all, the media is one of the main targets in the hybrid aggression against Ukraine today,” Herasymiuk noted.
She recalled a joint project with the OSCE and the SSU on the cyber resilience of local and regional media, in which approximately 450 journalists from 21 regions of Ukraine participated and received recommendations on how to protect websites and personal data from phishing attacks and other threats.
The Chair of the National Council also emphasized that media literacy is one of the priorities in the work of the media regulator.
“In this context, the partnership with the OSCE is extremely valuable. It combines our unique Ukrainian experience with international expertise, which is vital for us so that we can fight this problem together, because this is not just a Ukrainian issue—it is a global problem affecting a world ravaged by war,” she noted.
For his part, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech, emphasized that verified media will continue to be a key source of reliable information.
Hanna Krasnostup, Director of the Department of Strategic Communications and Promotion of Ukrainian Culture at the Ministry of Culture, noted that media literacy education should cover all age groups—from children to the elderly—and that different approaches are needed for different audiences.
She pointed out that Russia systematically invests in spreading propaganda through video games, which are also played by Ukrainian children. According to her, in 2024, Russia allocated approximately USD 19 million for this purpose, and plans to invest another USD 34 million by 2027.
As reported by Ukrinform, specialists from the Cybersecurity Department of the Security Service of Ukraine have neutralized more than 16,000 enemy cyberattacks and cyberincidents since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.