Although the number of media increased, attempts to manipulate the media by the executive and the presidential administration by their political opponents, by local government and by commercial structures related to them, resulted in the considerable degradation of freedom of press in the country.
Journalists are increasingly subject to violence.
This is related to the general worsening of crime in the country and to attempts to persecute journalists for their professional activity. The regional prosecutor concluded that the murder was related to the Derevyanko's journalistic activity. The murder of the editor stirred protests, since the journalist was a prominent person in the city. The militia arrested the suspected murderer who confessed that the crime was contracted. The media, and especially the print media, have increasingly become the victims of court persecutions for critical articles against the political establishment.