Welcoming the Government’s announcement of £4.1m emergency funding, BBC Director-General Tim Davie says: “I am hugely proud of our coverage and the bravery and resilience of our colleagues reporting this difficult and complex story, day in, day out.

“This additional funding from the government will enable us to continue expanding the ways we are reaching audiences in Russia and Ukraine. The BBC has seen a big demand for clear, fact-based, impartial journalism to counter disinformation and our teams are working around the clock to bring people the very best independent journalism.

“This funding will also help us with the immediate need to support staff who have been displaced, many of whom are continuing to work and provide vital expertise to the whole of the BBC, while life changes dramatically around them. We pay tribute to their incredible strength and professionalism.”

Notes to Editors

Since the invasion began, the BBC has record audiences for BBC Russian and BBC Ukraine, with millions turning to the BBC’s digital language platforms.

In the last week of February (before BBC Russian services were blocked on 4 March) the audience for the BBC’s Russian language digital platforms reached a record nearly 17m people, more than tripling its year-to-date weekly average. Since access was restricted in Russia the BBC announced ways it is increasing access to its independent journalism including providing circumvention advice, launching new TikTok accounts in English and Russian, and increasing access to the BBC World News channel.

Audiences for BBC’s Ukrainian language digital platforms have also reached record numbers of just over 5.5m. Direct site traffic for BBC Ukrainian more than doubled (reaching almost 4m) and reach on social more than tripled (reaching close to 2.5m).