Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, Ukrainian journalists have become involuntary war reporters.
To support them, the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) together with the Ukrainian Institute for Mass Information founded the Center for Press Freedom in Lviv in western Ukraine in mid-March.
Over 150 bulletproof protective vests and almost a hundred helmets have already been distributed.
Hundreds of first aid kits are to follow shortly.
According to the RSF, seven media workers have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
The Ukrainian Union of Journalists reported twenty dead on Wednesday, including representatives of foreign media.
"A quarter of the media workers killed worldwide since the beginning of the year died in Ukraine during the war," says RSF Managing Director Christian Mihr.
After initial transport difficulties across national borders, the supplies are urgently needed, says Mihr: "Media workers became one of the targets in the war early on.
Every relief effort supports them in their work.
Every vest and helmet is another protection against the enemies of the free press.” The total need for protective clothing is estimated at 700 more vests and helmets.
In addition to material support, the center also offers psychological help and security training, which has already been attended by around eighty Ukrainian media professionals.
There are safety training courses in English for foreign journalists.
Not only the journalists themselves, but also the media infrastructure suffers from the Russian war of aggression.
Devices and transmitters are destroyed.
At the beginning of March it hit the television tower in Kyiv and then three others in the country.
Numerous radio stations and around thirty television stations were affected.
In order to keep the Ukrainian media reporting, the Press Freedom Center also offers financial help to media workers and editorial offices.