The Board of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) awarded the Ihor Lubchenko National Award for the Protection of Freedom of Speech for 2025 to FREEДОМ TV channel journalists Olena Hramova and Yevhen Karmazin. They were killed on October 23, 2025, in Kramatorsk while carrying out their professional duties. A Russian attack drone struck the filming crew as they were working at the site of shelling.
The decision to confer the award was made by the NUJU Board on January 23, following a proposal by Crimean journalist and NUJU Secretary Mykola Semena.
“They were killed by a Russian drone, but they have not vanished from our memory. Olena and Yevhen were courageous journalists who chose truth even under deadly threat. We will always remember them,” emphasized NUJU Chair Serhii Tomilenko.
Olena Hubanova and Yevhen Karmazin were killed in late October in Kramatorsk as a result of a Russian drone strike on the vehicle in which the journalists were traveling.
In November 2025, the President of Ukraine posthumously awarded them the Order of Merit, 3rd Class.
According to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.