Updates on Ukraine

46-year-old Karolina Ashion fled to Germany from Kiev at the beginning of the war, following a career as a journalist and presenter in the Ukrainian television business for more than 20 years. As of Friday 18 March, she will present Ukraine Update in Ukrainian from Monday to Friday on the websites RTL News, ntv.de and NTV’s YouTube channel. The ten-minute programmes will cover the most important topics concerning the conflict, alongside the everyday life of Ukrainian refugees in Germany.

Karolina Ashion, Journalist and Presenter, says: “I feel this project is a privilege. I want to make a contribution so that people who are seeking protection here in Germany can find out what is happening in our home country."
 

Stephan Schmitter, Managing Director of RTL News, says: “Since the beginning of the war, we have been providing our viewers and users with high-quality news. We are there where it is happening. We work with great effort to verify the material. The situation of the people in Ukraine and the refugees in Germany is depressing – with Ukraine Update we want to give them an assured news overview. We will also strengthen our team with more colleagues from Ukraine, to whom we can hopefully give a bit of normality and security here with us."
 

Five new documentaries on the war

In addition to NTV’s daily coverage – now also in Ukrainian – the news channel is broadcasting five new documentaries as exclusive German premieres on 20 and 22 March. The first documentary, Russische Rebellen – Widerstand für den Frieden (Russian Rebels – Resistance for Peace), shows the dangers faced by Russians who are currently opposing the war. The second documentary, Zerbrechliche Demokratie – Kampf der Autokraten (Fragile Democracy – The Battle of the Autocrats), looks at how autocracies destabilise democracies while maintaining the illusion of a democracy.

The next two documentaries investigate the mysterious world of the surveillance industry and the network of Eastern European oligarchs, bringing disturbing information to light – such as illegal business dealings and secret plots. The final documentary, Fakt oder Fake? Die Macht der Manipulation (Fact of Fake? The Power of Manipulation), delves into the danger of disinformation and looks at possible solutions.