The Verkhovna Rada adopted a law that creates a problem for journalists in the war zone. We are talking about No. 7367, adopted as a whole and submitted for signature to the President.

The document provides that for the accreditation of a journalist to the war zone, insurance, body armor and a first aid kit will be required.. But these norms are not about the safety of journalists, explains the head of the board of the National Association of Ukrainian Media Tetyana Kotyuzhinska.

Compulsory insurance of journalists and other employees seconded to work in the areas of military (combat) operations and / or in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine should be at the expense of the editorial office.

But since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the Ukrainian media have found themselves in a very difficult financial situation and will not be able to provide payments in favor of insurance companies.. Foreign editorial offices that have not suffered financially will not be able to insure their journalists, Kotyuzhinskaya explains..

According to the law " After all, the requirements for editorial offices will come into force immediately, and the government will develop everything, insurance companies will begin to obtain licenses, start insuring, obviously, later.

The introduction of compulsory insurance will exclude the possibility of replacing it with a voluntary one, which can be carried out at the expense of grantors, although it is limited in time (no more than three days) and the number of journalists. According to the draft law, voluntary insurance can only be additional, and the editorial office must buy compulsory insurance on the terms of the government and insurance companies.

If it is not possible to buy insurance, journalists may be denied accreditation to cover events of extreme public importance, since the Ministry of Defense has the right to require compliance with the law. Moreover, they will be able to demand insurance immediately, and journalists will be able to insure themselves after the decisions of the Cabinet of Ministers and the actions of insurance companies.

“The most cynical thing is that changes were made to the law “On state support for the media”, and financial obligations were placed on the media and journalists, and not on the state,” Kotyuzhinskaya writes..

The author of the draft law, Anastasia Lyashenko (“Servant of the People”), did not consult with the relevant trade union association, and the Committee did not discuss the draft law both before adoption in the first reading and in preparation for the second reading.