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Working as a frontline reporters covering the full-scale war is very dangerous, because you always a target for russian occupiers, says journalist and frontline reporter Anastasia Stanko.
She spoke about it during the conversation with Andriy Kulykov for English-language podcast Ukraine Calling on Hromadske radio:
«I am sure one hundred percent that we are a target and we always talk about this with my team. Should we wear a helmet with this «press» word on it? Because we absolutely are a target. And you should think about your safety and also you should think how to mark yourself as a journalist. And, yes, we do not wear something military, of course, but we always wear a blue helmet and to help recognize us as a journalist, but, about «press» word? I don’t know.
Also read: «The difference was that war now is everywhere» — Anastasia Stanko about the full-scale invasion
Now I don’t know if it’s a good idea to wear because for example this situation with a Ukrainian fixer and an Italian journalist which has happened a while ago when the Ukrainian fixer was killed on the Antonivka Bridge in Kherson. It’s absolutely understood that they were a target and if it was a sniper, for example, he absolutely saw that they had this press word on their helmets, on their jackets. And he did this. He or she, I don’t know. Yes he did this. Killed this Ukrainian fixer.
And Ukrainian soldiers always told us, don’t wear this because you are target. And also they say if we will see someone on that side in this press helmet we also may think that they are not journalists but Russian propagandists and we don’t know what we should do with them. On that side, I don’t think that journalists are mostly working there, but from our side I think that yeah we are- we are a target, absolutely».
You may already read and listen the full conversation on Hromadske radio: Anastasia Stanko: «My only one decision as a journalist was I should go to the front line»