Meduza and the Lure agency announced that they had stopped an advertising campaign featuring footage of the war in Ukraine

“Meduza” and the Lure agency announced that they have stopped an advertising campaign featuring footage of the war in Ukraine Vladislav Kravtsov

The Russian publication Meduza announced that it had stopped an advertising campaign that featured footage of Russia's war against Ukraine with photos of Ukrainians who had not consented to their use. The media noted that this was their mistake.

This was reported by 24 Kanal with reference to the official statement published by Meduza. Previously, a Russian opposition publication's advertising campaign featuring photos of Ukrainians caused a scandal.

What Meduza and Lure responded to regarding the advertising campaign

Meduza stated that the publication launched an advertising campaign in 2025 to expand its international audience and raise awareness of its crowdfunding activities.

Russian journalists noted that the campaign was developed by the Berlin-based agency Lure. It talks about “the Kremlin's attempts to silence our editorial staff.” It also featured photos and videos taken in Ukraine during the war.

From the first day of the full-scale invasion, the war has been the focus of Meduza's attention. The vast majority of our articles are devoted to the war. We condemn this criminal and violent invasion, hold Russia fully responsible for starting the war, and are doing everything in our power to help end it, the statement reads.

The publication noted that the content for the video was “carefully selected” and “in full compliance with legal requirements.” However, it included images of Ukrainians who did not give permission for their use.

“It was a mistake, and we deeply regret it. We apologize to everyone who was negatively affected by our advertising campaign. It was never our intention to cause harm, especially to those who suffered from Russian aggression, and we are truly sorry,” the journalists noted.

Finally, on the morning of February 2, Meduza, together with Lure, decided to stop the advertising campaign.

The Berlin agency Lure also emphasized that the campaign had been stopped. They also apologized to the people of Ukraine for any pain our campaign caused.

Our intention was never to exploit suffering; we sought to remain in solidarity with Ukraine and support independent journalism that challenges Russian propaganda. We sincerely regret that our approach caused suffering, in particular due to the inclusion of a photo of Yaroslav Bazilevich, the agency said in a statement.

What is known about the scandal with Meduza and footage of the war in Ukraine

• The Russian opposition publication Meduza has launched an advertising campaign in its English-language version, which uses footage of explosions in Ukraine, a photo of Lviv resident Yaroslav Bazilevich at the funeral of his family, as well as photos of other traumatic events for Ukrainians.
• This was noticed by Victoria Feshak, a member of the Ukrainian public organization Veche Berlin. The Ukrainian woman reported that the advertising campaign for Meduza was developed free of charge by the Berlin agency Lure.
• The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, speaking about this advertising campaign, stated that such use of the tragedy of our country to evoke sympathy for Russians is a complete disgrace. In turn, the representative of the ministry Georgy Tykhy called for “the immediate removal of all advertising content that exploits Ukrainian suffering caused by Russian terror.”