The Ukrainian Media Fund is an international initiative of media industry in Europe to support Ukrainian journalists and publishers in times of war

Ukrainian Media Fund

Founders and partners

About the fund

In response to the urgent need facing Ukrainian journalists in the time of Russian full-scale invasion in Ukraine media organizations from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Sweden launched the Ukrainian Media Fund (UMF), an initiative designed to raise funds, provide development support and know how to help local news media companies in Ukraine.

Since March 2022, Ukrainian Media Fund has been focused on supporting operational budgets of few dozens of local media outlets in Ukraine, especially in war zones, equipping hundreds of journalists with protective and communication gear and designing the scenarios of and securing funding for Ukrainian media rebuilt and reconstruction in the aftermath of war.

Since 2025 Ukrainian Media Fund is operationally led by Foreningen Ukrainian Media Fund Nordic.

01

Ensure

financial support for the local media outlets and journalists in Ukraine, especially in war zones

03

Support

cooperation between Ukrainian and other European media and public advocacy for the reconstruction of Ukrainian media

02

Equip

journalists with protective and communication gear

04

Provide

Ukrainian local media environment with reconstruction recommendations and long-term financing strategies

The UMF was initiated by the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation and leading media organizations in Nordic countries: Bonnier News, Swedish Media Publishers’ Association (Tidningsutgivarna), Association of Danish Media (Danske Medier), Finnish Media Federation (Medialiitto), News Media Finland, and Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association (Mediebedriftenes Landsforening). The UMF has been financially supported by Nordic Founders ever since. In October 2023 the German Marshall Fund of the United States replaced the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation in the role of the managing partner. Since 2025 it has been managed by Foreningen Ukrainian Media Fund Nordic.

Mission

The UMF was launched in solidarity with the journalists and photographers reporting every day from the frontlines in Ukraine. Its main goal is to mobilize and provide international support – both financial and material for local media outlets in Ukraine.

Oksana Brovko – CEO of the Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine

How does the Fund support Ukrainian media and journalists?

Ukraine has a very vibrant and diversified media landscape that comprises, besides well-established nation-wide media organizations, hundreds of regional and local media outlets across the country. These have long been the informational backbone of their communities, they shape local and regional identities, and they foster citizen participation and oversight at the grassroots level. Since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, local media have been key to fighting disinformation and to mobilizing societal resistance, resilience and solidarity. Their continued operations as well as further development will be critical for the short-term survival and long-term strengthening of democratic Ukraine.

In acknowledgement of this role, and in response to the urgent needs of local and regional Ukrainian media during war time, the UMF was launched in March 2022. Led by the Poland-based Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation, it was it was underwritten and resourced by six major media associations of four Nordic countries. The immediate purpose of UMF was to provide operational funding as well as protective and communication equipment to local media and journalists in war-torn regions of Ukraine. In the long-term, UMF is committed to providing financing and infrastructure to rebuild and digitally transform independent Ukrainian media. 

UMF pursues a two-fold objective

First, it provides emergency assistance to local Ukrainian media outlets and journalists. Second, it serves as a support mechanism for the long-term recovery and development of the Ukrainian local media landscape.

Emergency aid implemented since the beginning of the full-scale invasion focuses on aid responding to immediate needs assessed in close cooperation with Ukrainian media organizations: Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine (AIRPU), National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and Ukrainian Media Business Association (UMBA). Assistance is provided for remote work equipment, power supply, protective and first-aid gear, salaries of journalists and other operational costs.

Long-term support comprises efforts to rebuild the landscape of local Ukrainian media, supporting cooperation between Ukrainian and other European media and public advocacy for the reconstruction of Ukrainian media, as well as providing Ukrainian local media environment with reconstruction recommendations and long-term financing strategies.

Map of the network

We decided to focus on regional and local outlets to ensure that our help goes where other significant media assistance organizations might not get involved. To achieve this goal, we are working together with a number of Ukrainian associations that bring together local and regional media outlets. We are distributing Funds and equipment directly to:

Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine (AIRPU)

National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU)

Ukrainian Media Business Association (UMBA)

Beneficiaries

Actions and effects

The funds raised by the UMF allowed for the purchase of equipment necessary for journalists working in war zones, as well as financial support for these journalists and local media organizations. Over 200 newsrooms received equipment that allowed them to work despite power outages, where energy supplies and networks were paralyzed by Russian attacks. More than 500 reporters in medium-sized, small, and very small towns received power banks, allowing them to recharge their phones and laptops.

Emergency delivery of winter clothes to Kharkiv

Emergency delivery of winter clothes to Kharkiv

As part of another large humanitarian aid convoy to the war-torn regions in eastern Ukraine, on November 17, the Ukrainian Media Fund delivered another package of essential supplies purchased with the generous support of our international partners and benefactors.

15 local newspapers back in liberated territories

15 local newspapers back in liberated territories

Thanks to the assistance of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) local newspapers from 15 liberated Ukrainian territories can now resume their public mission. Residents of villages and towns in eastern Ukraine get their Ukrainian newspaper shortly after liberation.

New Funding Round for Ukrainian Independent Local Media

New Funding Round for Ukrainian Independent Local Media

In the second quarter of 2024, the Ukrainian Media Fund successfully distributed a new round of support amounting to €80,000 to independent local media outlets. A total of 46 media outlets benefited from this initiative, receiving institutional grants aimed at supporting the core journalistic activities of the selected outlets.

A selection of supported outlets

More about

Ukrainian Media Fund

Year of war, year of aid

We invite you to read the 2022-2023 report summarizing an over a year effort of the UMF, and a short video about our last transport of in-kind aid.

read more

Year of war, year of aid

We invite you to read the 2022-2023 report summarizing an over a year effort of the UMF, and a short video about our last transport of in-kind aid.

read more

Ukrainian Media Fund

Supporters of the Fund

We cannot achieve our mission without the support of our donors, both individual and institutional. All of us at UMF deeply appreciate your support.

Ukrainian Media Fund

Support the Fund

If you wish to support the fund, please get in touch.

If you have any other questions or issues, please do not hesitate to reach out to the project manager of UMF Lars Raaum at lars@mediebedriftene.no , and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.

Get In Touch