Russian independent news outlet Meduza used a photo of a Ukrainian man mourning his family killed in a Russian strike to bolster its European promo campaign — without his permission, he told the Kyiv Independent.
The photo is of Yaroslav Bazylevych, whose entire family was killed when a Russian missile hit their apartment building on Sept. 4 in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.
Meduza used the man's photo from his family's funeral, as well as other pictures of Ukrainian war victims in a promotional video as part of the campaign, first published over two months ago.
Bazylevych told the Kyiv Independent he considered the use of his photo "unacceptable."
The campaign — which uses images of Russian atrocities in Ukraine to promote a Russian media outlet — has been met with swift criticism in Ukraine, by both officials and the public.
"Exploiting our tragedy to evoke sympathy for Russians is a complete disgrace," said Ukraine's Foreign Ministry in a statement.
"We demand that all such promo content exploiting Ukrainian suffering caused by Russian terror be removed immediately from all media platforms where it has appeared," said Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi.
In a press-release on their English-language website, Meduza said that the video is meant for "bolstering Meduza’s crowdfunding efforts" and asked their audience to share it. It was also screened across European capitals in a widespread promotional campaign titled "Where other headlines end, Meduza begins."
The video was developed pro-bono by a Berlin-based creative agency Lure. As of Feb. 1, the agency used Bazylevych's photo as a title picture for the campaign on their website, with the title "Meduza" posted across his wounded face.
Meduza did not publicly state who financed the campaign or where the funds to support it originate from. At the time of publication, Meduza had not responded to the Kyiv Independent's request for comment.
Bazylevych said that no one contacted him to ask for permission to use his pictures from either Meduza or Lure Agency, despite the agency's claim that they conducted "meticulous research" to design the campaign.
His 7-year-old daughter Emilia, 18-year-old Daryna and 21-year-old Yaryna were killed together with his wife Yevhenia, 43, as they were making their way to a bomb shelter. Bazylevych was lightly wounded in the attack.
"I consider it unacceptable for their advertising campaign," Bazylevych told the Kyiv Independent over the text.
Bazylevych confirmed over text that he plans to pursue legal action to stop the use of this ad campaign.
Kevin Rothrock, Meduza's English version's managing editor, told the Kyiv Independent that he wasn't aware of the campaign.
Meduza is an independent Russian media outlet that was founded in 2014 outside of Russia, with its headquarters in Riga, Latvia. It has been banned in Russia since 2022.
Kate Tsurkan
