The Military Journalists of the Armed Forces of Ukraine celebrate their professional holiday on February 16 for the first time as the press service of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine reported.
'From now, according to the order of the Defense Minister of Ukraine, the fighters of the information front who serve in the Ukrainian Army will be annually congratulated with the Military Journalist Day on February 16', the message said.
Stepan Poltorak, the Defense Minister congratulated the military journalists with their professional holiday on Facebook.
'It is the deserved honoring of the courage and heroism of the military journalists who were near our soldiers in the hot spots of the Ukrainian stand from the very beginning of the enemy's aggression. The act of the heroism of the Ukrainian soldier tragically and symbolically intertwines with the mission of the military journalist who also able for the self-sacrifice for the peacefully and successful perspective of their own country', the minister wrote.
It is noted that five military journalists died since the beginning of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in Donbas. Oleh Zadoyanchuk died on September 4, 2014, from the attack of the Russian weaponry in Novoaidar district of Luhansk region. Viktor Gurnyak from Lviv died in October 2014 near Shchastya. Oleksandr Chernykov, the journalist from Dnipro died on January 22, 2015, protecting the Donetsk Airport. Serhy Nykolaev, the photo-journalist died in February 2015 near Pisky, Donetsk region.
Also, it was reported that Dmytro Labutkin, the captain and the editor of TV channel and TV and Radio Studio 'Bryz' of the Defense Ministry died on February 16, 2015, near Debaltseve during the execution of the combat mission
