A controversial promotional campaign by the Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza has been terminated in various European cities following criticism over its use of Ukrainian war victims’ images without consent.
The campaign developed pro bono by Berlin-based agency Lure, aimed to highlight the challenges faced by exiled Russian journalists but has been criticized for exploiting Ukrainian suffering. It featured a photo of Ukrainian Yaroslav Bazylevych at the funeral, mourning his wife and three daughters killed in a Russian missile strike in 2024.
Ukrainians condemned Russian news outlet’s promo ad in Europe featuring Ukrainian war victims
“Using our [Ukrainian] tragedy to arouse sympathy for Russians is an absolute disgrace,” wrote Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
MFA’s spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, demanded the immediate removal of “all promotional content that uses Ukrainian suffering caused by Russian terror.”
Lure claimed the campaign aimed to “support the work of brave journalists who risk their lives daily to bring us the truth.” The agency cited threats of “kidnapping and poisoning” that Meduza’s journalists allegedly face from the Kremlin.
However, following the backlash, Meduza and Lure deleted the controversial social media post with Bazylevych.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeev confirmed that Lure has removed all campaign materials and instructed partners to cease distributing them across all platforms.
“Lure has deleted all campaign-related materials from the network and instructed partners to stop their display on any platforms immediately. Stopping the display of all campaign-related materials means the end of the campaign,” Makeev stated on social media.
He indicated that diplomatic representatives in other affected countries have been notified to monitor the situation in their jurisdictions.
The ambassador has called on Ukrainian communities in Germany to report any continuing displays of the campaign materials to ensure complete compliance with the termination order.
Russian independent media has faced severe repression since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This led to the shutdown of major independent outlets such as Meduza, Novaya Gazeta, TV Rain, and others.
Many journalists received threats and arrest warrants, prompting a mass exodus from the country to cities like Tbilisi, Riga, and Berlin. Independent media still reaches many Russians— Meduza, for example, reports having over 10 million monthly readers in Russia despite being blocked there since 2022.
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