Solutions journalism in Ukraine: an editorial gamble in the midst of war

"Solutions journalism is not positive journalism," stresses Anastasia Rudenko from the outset. She is the founder and director of Rubryka, Ukraine's first media outlet dedicated to solutions journalism, which she launched in 2018. Rubryka's reports are modelled after similar solutions-based community initiatives, such as programmes that support Ukrainian children who have left Russian-occupied regions orhelp veterans reintegrate into civilian life. "We analyse a problem journalistically and then present responses to it," she explains.

The journalist, who is in her thirties, trained in this editorial approach with the global Solutions Journalism Network, which promotes the development of solutions journalism in newsrooms. She is also working to expand the practice by training other media professionals across the country because, for Anastasia Rudenko, these articles "have a real impact on readers' lives".

Deeply rooted in local communities…

Among the Ukrainian local media outlets that have adopted this approach is the news website Bilyayivka.city, based in the municipality of the same name in southern Ukraine, near Odesa. Its editor-in-chief, Halyna Khalymonyk, incorporated solutions journalism into the outlet's editorial strategy four years ago. "It is one of the most demanding forms of journalism," she says. Whilst a news story can be covered in a few hours, this type of article can sometimes require "an entire week" of work. Journalists need to conduct more in-depth research in order to "present a solution that can be replicated, rather than relying on an isolated experience."

These reports have found an audience: "up to 10,000 views" compared with "3,000 to 4,000 for a conventional news story", says Halyna Khalymonyk. She attributes these results to the rigour of her team's work, which draws on investigative journalism methods. One example is an investigation published in March 2026 into buildings in Odesa's historic centre that are disappearing because they are not being restored. Bilyayivka.city journalists uncovered a lack of transparency on the part of local authorities. "Many buildings declared beyond repair could have been restored. But demolishing them made it possible to build a shopping centre or a residential building," the editor-in-chief explains. As a partial response to this problem, the website decided to highlight the work of a local association that restores Odesa's historic doors.

…with an impact that can cross borders

The impact sometimes extends beyond Ukraine's borders. The Ukrainian media outlet Frontliner, which specialises in covering the front line and receives financial support from the International Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukrainian Media (IFRUM), launched by RSF and its Ukrainian partners, experienced this unexpectedly. After publishing a photo essay about a Ukrainian veteran who had set up his own pottery workshop as an example of reintegration into civilian life, a US reader contacted the outlet to buy his creations.

But this approach requires maintaining a clear boundary between the objective analysis of a response to a problem and communications or covert advertising. "We must show the limitations, even when everything appears ideal," Anastasia Rudenko stresses. And although this practice remains a minority approach in Ukrainian journalism, its advocates see it as a tool serving the public interest. For Anastasia Rudenko, solutions journalism will have "an undeniable role to play" in the country's reconstruction.