"No harm intended": Meduza and Lure apologize to Ukrainians for war-themed ad

This was reported on the Instagram accounts of both Meduza and Lure.

The Russian outlet Meduza, which launched a European ad campaign highlighting the “suffering of the free press” using real images of Ukrainians suffering from Russian military aggression, has issued a statement. In it, the publication stressed that it condemns the war, holds Russia responsible for starting it, and is “doing everything in its power to help bring it to an end.”

However, it also noted that “the content for the video was selected with care and in full compliance with legal requirements.” In other words, Meduza saw no issue in using images of Ukrainian victims of Russian attacks to raise funds for its own media operations.

“It [the ad – ed.] included images of Ukrainians who had not given permission for their use. This was a mistake, and we deeply regret it. We apologize to everyone negatively affected by our advertising campaign. We never intended to cause harm, especially to those who have suffered from Russian aggression, and we are truly sorry,” Meduza wrote.

Lure, the German agency that created the ad for Meduza for free, also expressed regret, particularly over the inclusion of Yaroslav Bazylevych. The ad featured a photo from the funeral of his family, who were killed in a Russian strike on Lviv.

“We sincerely apologize to the people of Ukraine for any pain our campaign caused. Our intention was never to exploit suffering but to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and support independent journalism that challenges Russian propaganda.”

Both Meduza and Lure said they ended the campaign on February 2.

“We remain committed to supporting those fighting for truth and justice against Russia’s brutal war and propaganda machine,” Lure added.

• As a reminder, Ukrainians recently noticed that a Berlin cinema was running an ad for Meduza that used war footage from Ukraine. Alongside images of explosions and destruction caused by Russian attacks, Lure included a photo of Ukrainian Yaroslav Bazylevych at the funeral of his family, who were killed in a Russian strike on Lviv on September 4 last year.
• Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makeyev, later received a letter from Lure’s creative director and founder, informing him that the agency had shut down the campaign.