Daria Kurennaya has been working with the Donbas.Realities project of Radio Liberty since 2016. This project covers life in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war on both sides of the front line.
Since the summer of 2023, she has been analyzing chats where residents of temporarily occupied territories communicate. She publishes her findings in text materials on the Donbas.Realities website and discusses them during YouTube broadcasts.
Over six months ago, the journalist noticed a wave of offensive comments under a video featuring her. Anonymous users have been leaving mass comments under each issue aimed at discrediting her.
“They are mostly about my appearance or attempts to distort my last name. Although, once, they wrote that they pitied me for having to read the public pages of the occupied territories,” shares Daria Kurennaya.
After broadcasts, YouTube often deletes negative comments—either automatically or due to viewer complaints—but some may remain in the chat recording of live broadcasts.
The journalist suggests that the attacks were organized by Russian or pro-Russian bots, based on the nature of the comments and their similar rhetoric. She also considers the possibility that the surge in such attacks may be linked to the partial restoration of access to YouTube in Russia at the end of 2024.
“I don’t know exactly who writes these comments, but I suspect they’re bots, as they seem like pre-written scripts responding to any mention of my name. Some comments are left by Russians who have mastered VPNs but not their native language,” the journalist jokes.
Asked about the impact of constant online attacks on her psychoemotional state, Daria Kurennaya responds:
“I never respond to such comments. They don’t affect me. Let them write — all they do is promote the broadcast in recommendations.”
Oleksandra Horchynska, project manager at Women in Media, who documents journalists’ testimonies, reports that the organization is preparing to hold another self-support group for women in media. The session will be led by a professional psychotherapist, with the topic “Do I Really Care? The Psychology of Emotional Safety.”
The need for such initiatives is supported by the 2023 Women in Media study, Undervalued Threat: Gender Disinformation Against Ukrainian Journalists. The study revealed that, due to the lack of attention to gender disinformation from the state, individual institutions, and even the media, female journalists facing information attacks are forced to cope with the consequences on their own. In the long run, this could result in reduced female involvement in socio-political processes. Media women, while addressing important issues and defending others’ rights, are not always prepared to fight for their own, as cases of public disclosure and appropriate responses to gender disinformation remain isolated rather than systematic.
For the first time, the study’s authors established a link between specific gender-related fakes and the broader narratives used by Russian propaganda to discredit active Ukrainian women. Regular monitoring of such narratives is a crucial tool in countering gender disinformation, as it not only targets specific journalists but also seeks to create a negative image of Ukrainian women overall, contributing to a broader information campaign against the state.
Women in Media has created an online map to document cases of online violence against Ukrainian journalists due to their professional activities. If you have experienced or witnessed such an attack, you can report it and receive the necessary support by filling out a brief questionnaire on the Women in Media website.
This initiative is supported by the Dutch Foreign Ministry as part of the project “Strengthening the Resilience of Women Journalists in Ukraine: Combating Online Violence and Gendered Disinformation,” implemented by the Women in Media NGO.