44 Ukrainian regional media outlets and media NGOs will receive mini-grants from the Institute of Mass Information. The IMI mini-grant competition was held in partnership with the international organization Internews and with the support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The mini-grant competition yielded a total of 114 applications from all oblasts of Ukraine. Almost 70% of applications were about producing content: socially important reports about life in the oblast, journalistic investigations, reports on the life of frontline communities and useful materials for citizens about living in wartime. The rest of the applications concerned equipment (generators, charging stations, photo and video equipment) and media development (launching and optimizing websites, strategy sessions, rebranding, etc.).

Regional media outlets from 20 oblasts of Ukraine will receive mini-grants from the IMI; the most are from Kyiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Poltava oblasts.

"Ukrainian media outlets and media NGOs, especially in the regions, are having a very difficult time surviving now due to the decline of the advertising market, the outflow of employees, the destroyed editorial offices or equipment, and other problems caused by Russia's full-scale genocidal war. Therefore, the purpose of our 'survival' grants is to try and support editorial teams in these difficult times. These are small sums for the media outlets, but they will help cover the urgent needs," said IMI director Oksana Romaniuk.

We remind you that in the year and nine months since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed 543 crimes against journalists and the media in Ukraine. The occupiers killed 70 journalists, 10 of whom died while reporting.

233 media had to close down due to Russia's war on Ukraine.