The “Orbit” television company from Pokrovsk had to cease its broadcast for a month in April 2022 due to regular missile attacks by the Russian army.

Pokrovsk is a small town 60 kilometers away from the temporarily occupied Donetsk. The occupants had been trying to seize it since 2014 by holding the pseudo-referendum regarding the status of the unrecognized republics.

In 2022, the Pokrovsk residents were promptly leaving their homes because it was dangerous to stay in the town. Most of the “Orbit” staff were also evacuated together with their families and only one camera crew consisting of an operator, journalist and editor stayed in Pokrovsk.

Thus, the town was deserted during the first months of the war, the infrastructure partially ceased to function and the railway connections with the other cities of Ukraine were disrupted. According to Viktoriia Petrovska, the news editor-in-chief of the “Orbit” television channel, the situation sometimes resembled the pandemic times. Though, then the town only seemed to be empty because the residents were at home. When the full-scale invasion started, most of them actually left the town.

Despite the proximity to the front line, regular shelling, humanitarian crisis and mass evacuation, the “Orbit” team kept informing the residents about the most important local events on its social media. In May 2022, Pokrovsk started to come to life, its community was returning. The “Orbit” team managed to resume the broadcast. Its staff returned too and the channel had three camera crews instead of one. The creative team of the channel that used to produce more than ten shows of different genres had to focus barely on news content covering how the city and local businesses were recovering.

Today, the “Orbit” television channel produces not only news programs, but also socially significant content. Half of its team is still evacuated waiting for a good moment as well as Ukraine’s victory to return to Pokrovsk. To continue its activities in Pokrovsk, to increase the amount of quality local content, to be able to pay the salaries and the bills, the “Orbit” team also needs to be supported.