Clara Preve-Durrieu is the Europe correspondent for The New York Sun, where she’s been a reporter since she graduated with her Master’s degree in journalism from USC Annenberg in 2022. Based in Brussels, she recently returned from Ukraine where she reported on life in the country’s near-empty border towns in the wake of Russian shelling and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s advocacy for holding elections despite the practical difficulties inhibiting civilians and soldiers from voting, to name a few.
I was able to speak with Preve last night, as the sun rose in Italy, where she is currently staying with her grandmother. She said that the decision to go to Ukraine wasn’t an easy one, and her editors at the Sun had some hesitations
Clara Preve-Durrieu: And that was maybe the reason why many journalists are not going to Ukraine right now, you know. The counter-offensive is just going very slow.
Rather than prioritizing breaking news coverage, she said many journalists are embarking on feature stories instead.
The other main reason for the hesitancy was Preve’s own safety.
Preve-Durrieu: My editor, he’s been in the newspaper business for many years. But he always says, even though I send a lot of foreign correspondents to the war, it’s never easy. And I understand.
Nevertheless, she got the go-ahead. Now, she had to get it from the Ukrainian government as well.
Preve-Durrieu: He accepted, he approved of my request, and then it took another month to get my accreditation. Accreditation for Ukraine is really, really slow. They want to check absolutely everything of that person to make sure they’re not a Russian mole or something.
Once on the ground, the government continues to monitor all accredited journalists. There are specific rules that all press have to follow, such as making sure that their coverage isn’t revealing military locations.
Preve-Durrieu: They check absolutely everything that you post, every picture that you take and every video that you’re taking. And if it violates any of the rules, you immediately get suspended.
Preve recounted a time when she stopped to report from a gas station that had been destroyed.
Preve-Durrieu: This truck of militars, the soldiers, came over, and we just started talking. And I made a video, and they were like no, no you can’t. You can’t show this gas station. Even though I thought it was impossible for anyone to realize what gas station it was, but no, you can’t actually show absolutely anything.
As she traveled the country, passing through accreditation checkpoints and meeting more and more Ukrainian people, Preve said she was struck by one thing in particular.
Preve-Durrieu: It was fascinating. It was one of the things that I take with me, you know. The generosity of the Ukrainian people when it comes to sharing not only the material stuff such as hazelnuts, but also their story.
The hazelnuts she mentioned were a gift from a local police officer in a border town who, despite Preve’s resistance, insisted on sharing his food with her.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Estelle Atkinson.