A high-level roundtable on Ukrainian media and information resilience was held on the second day of the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Poland's coastal city of Gdańsk - and it was attended by Polish Radio External Service's deputy director, Piotr Pogorzelski, who reported from the event.
Seven experts from Ukraine and abroad took part in the panel - the goal of which was to discuss how Ukrainian media can strengthen accountability, build public trust, and bolster information resilience as Ukraine recovers and moves toward European integration.
One of the panelists was Hanna Chabarai, head of communications and deputy director of the Ukrainian Institute of Mass Information - an institution that has been following the Ukrainian media market for years.
As she pointed out - most Ukrainians, older people included, are now getting their news about what's happening in their country and around the world from the internet. Meanwhile, in the news aspect Ukrainian television is dominated by the so-called "telemarathon" - a joint 24-hour news program produced by the country's major TV channels. Still - it enjoys little trust, and Ukrainians prefer to get their updates from the Telegram messenger, which offers news channels, though not always reliable ones. Last but not least, people of Ukraine also often use trusted online media outlets - such as Ukrainska Pravda.
"Ukrainian media are highly developed. I'm talking about online media here - because print media are becoming a thing of the past, while the digital ones are on the rise. National media outlets like Ukrayinska Pravda, Radio Svoboda, and many others conduct investigative journalism, control the government, and report from the front lines. Local media also play an important role. We have thousands of them, and they're getting better and better because they're closest to local events. They know which officials are bad and which are good. When we want to find out what the current state of affairs is in a given region or town - we turn to local media."
- Chabarai emphasised. Ukrainian Institute of Mass Information's map of credible sources already includes 300 different types of media - but as its head noted, their financing remains the biggest problem:
"There's no real media market in Ukraine. Some outlets are trying to make money by paywalling their articles - but these are isolated cases. We generally oppose paying for news because it's socially important information and must be accessible to everyone. The media earn some from advertising, some from fundraising - but when it comes to the latter, the media aren't a priority as people prefer to support the military. Grants for the independent media are one solution, and as the Institute we administer these to various outlets, both large and small. Every euro brings results - because the media transform the lives of both their local communities and the entire country."
- the deputy director of the Ukrainian Institute of Mass Information continued.
Previously, the United States was the largest donor supporting the Ukrainian media - but currently, the European Union took this mantle. One of the European entities involved is Reporters Without Borders - and almost a year ago it initiated the creation of the International Fund for Ukrainian Media (IFRUM).
Reporters Without Borders Secretary General, Thibaut Bruttin, took part in the Friday debate at the URC 2026. As he emphasized, over the years Ukraine has managed to build a significant network of credible outlets - but some media are still controlled by the oligarchs.
"The Oligarchs have gone fairly quiet - because some of them had or still have Russian relations, are tied to the Russian market. The question of the Ukraine Reconstruction Fund that we're championing is how do we reform the sector, how do we build for more transparency, less weaponization of media? And now is the moment to talk about that. The TV marathon in Ukraine, which presents somewhat similar content on most of the central stations, will come to an end at some point. What will replace it? Will it be just the oligarchs coming back, or will it be a very independent style of reporting that could be to the benefit of the political community?"
- Bruttin said, interviewed by Polish Radio's Piotr Pogorzelski. He also underscored that the Ukrainian public broadcaster, Suspilne, is a phenomenon of its own - and its objectivity is rated very highly:
"Suspilne has been backed by the EU, and has been very much involved in the European Broadcasting Union. It rose to the standard despite financial constraints - and we have to praise the efforts made by its current management to produce content that not only fits the needs of the Ukrainian public, but also is now part of a larger European ecosystem. Some of the Suspilne-funded films are now available all across Europe on Arte platforms. So, it's a soft power tool to some extent."
Another of the roundtable participants, well-acquainted with the issue of disinformation and propaganda was Englishman Anthony Borden, Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR.net).
"Democracy is more complicated than dictatorship - so allocating funds is more difficult for us. We also have lots of political discord among various international partners. But what's moving and exciting about being at this conference is that there's a lot of optimism, unity and sense of purpose to support Ukraine here. And the amount of money needed for independent journalism is really infinitesimal compared to the enormous sums that are required for infrastructure and other investments in the long term."
- Borden said, speaking to Polish Radio External Service's deputy director Piotr Pogorzelski at the event on Friday.
As he added, the Russians are trying to convince both Ukrainians and the rest of the World that Ukraine is losing the war, and that the closest allies are ready to abandon Kyiv. Anti-Polish sentiment in Ukraine and anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland are also being fueled online by the Kremlin's agents of chaos.
Still, while Russia continues to try and influence both Ukrainian society and the global discourse, Moscow's propaganda is met with growing resilience. Especially that - as Borden emphasised - "when you're shelling somebody they tend not to believe what you're telling them".
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Source: Piotr Pogorzelski, reporting from the URC 2026 in Gdańsk