Babel

Babel is a digital media outlet publishing about politics, business, education, culture, and technology in Ukraine and worldwide.

The newsroom aims to be the voice of common sense guided by three principles: listen to everyone, talk to everyone, and accurately reflect the views of all sides. Babel's newsroom strives to be accurate and impartial and treat all of the protagonists of a story equally, critically, and respectfully. The team is clear on separating journalism from political and social activism; it also monitors conflicts of interest and, if necessary, openly point them out.

Babel's motto is: 'We write about people, not about abstract phenomena (organisations, reforms, companies, trends)." Its editorial policy emphasises fact-checking by multiple sources, verifying facts, figures, and names of companies and organisations.

Since 2021, Babel has been included in the "white list" of Ukrainian digital media outlets for its adherence to the highest journalistic standards, as classified by the independent observer, the Institute for Mass Information. Babel also received a high transparency rating (87,5/100) from the NewsGuard initiative.

On 24 February 2022, Babel closed the Russian version of the site and launched the English version. Over the 2024, the majority of readers of English-language content came from the US, the UK, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands.

The editorial boards of the website and Telegram channel work around the clock, 24/7. As of March 2025, the majority of Babel’s male staff has been mobilized into the military.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Babel has been primarily funded through donor support, with some expenses covered by donations and a limited number of advertising projects. The closure of U.S. media support programs has significantly weakened the outlet’s financial position.

A large portion of Babel’s content is now dedicated to documenting war crimes, addressing transitional justice issues, compensation and reparations for war-related damages, and other ongoing war-related topics.

To raise global awareness about the war and justice, Babel organized the press tour "Justice for Ukraine" for foreign journalists from 10 countries, including South Africa and Venezuela. The tour included a visit to the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and meetings with top speakers such as the Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council and the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. As a result, several international media outlets published stories about Ukraine.