Liubov Rakovytsia

Head of NGO, DII-Ukraine, Ukraine

DII-Ukraine is a media organization operating in Ukraine for 15 years to counteract propaganda and disinformation. NGO is a publisher of popular “News of Donbas” media outlet and YouTube-channel, the organizer of the annual Donbas Media Forum and the founder of the DMF-network, the community of independent regional media outlets in Ukraine since 2019. DII-Ukraine has achieved numerous results in the development of independent media as well as in strengthening resistance to propaganda among the target audience (vulnerable groups — citizens of the Eastern regions of Ukraine, including the occupied territories). In 2023, DII-Ukraine products received over 35 million views on YouTube and the “News of Donbas” website. Additionally, 25% of the traffic on TikTok comes from the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. 10 independent regional media outlets from the DMF-network have become trendsetters for their regions with the support, and the content created within the network activities covered more than 4,5M in 2023. Almost 700 participants attended DMF 2023 in Kyiv.