The Ukrainian online audience continues to shrink
19 August 21:15
According to Similarweb, traffic to the most popular Ukrainian online media outlets in May–July 2026 showed mixed trends compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. Although the list of the 10 most popular websites remained largely unchanged, most media outlets experienced a decline in traffic. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", citing the Institute of Mass Information.
The exceptions were four media outlets that managed to grow their audience: NV, “Channel 24,” RBC-Ukraine, and Oboz.ua.
Key changes compared to the fourth quarter of 2025:
- traffic increased for the following media outlets: NV (25.4%), “Channel 24” (10.5%), RBC-Ukraine (2.2%), and Oboz.ua (1.7%);
- The largest drops in traffic were recorded by “Censor” (-37.1%), UNIAN (-20.9%), and “Ukrainska Pravda” (-20.5%). “Korrespondent” (-16.3%), TCH (-4.6%), and Suspilne (-3.4%) saw slightly smaller declines in traffic.
Audience overview of websites, according to Similarweb
“Ukrainska Pravda” has a predominantly male audience—69% men compared to 31% women. The site’s most active readers are users aged 55–64 (22.3%) and 65 and older (22.1%). Slightly less represented are the 25–34 age group (16.7%), the 35–44 age group (15.7%), and the 45–54 age group (15.4%). The smallest share of the audience consists of readers aged 18–24 (7.8%). By location, events from Ukraine dominate (75.7%); there are significantly fewer events from Poland (4.7%), Germany (3.9%), the U.S. (3.9%), and the U.K. (1.8%). Traffic comes primarily from direct visits (68.4%) and organic search (21.6%). Social media accounts for 5% of visits, and referral links account for 2.6%. As for social media, Facebook (44.4%), Reddit (30.2%), and YouTube (17.8%) generate the most traffic, while X (5.8%) and Telegram (0.6%) generate significantly less.
On the Oboz.ua website, the audience breakdown is 72% men to 28% women. The largest group of readers is the 65+ age group (38.3%), followed by the 55–64 age group (22.2%). Younger age groups are less represented: 45–54 years old (13.4%), 35–44 years old (10.1%), and 25–34 years old (9.4%), while the smallest share belongs to the 18–24 age group (6.5%). Ukrainian IP addresses generate 87.5% of traffic; outside Ukraine, the highest number of visits comes from Kazakhstan (3.1%), Germany (2.5%), Poland (1.3%), and Russia (0.8%). Direct visits account for 55% of traffic, organic search for 19.1%, and referral links for a fairly high 20.9%. Social media accounts for 3.7%. Among social media platforms, YouTube (44.7%) and Facebook (42.9%) generate the most traffic, while Telegram (5.9%) and X (5.7%) generate significantly less.
UNIAN’s readership breaks down as follows: 69% men and 31% women. The most active readers are in the 65+ age group (33.7%) and the 55–64 age group (21.9%), while the 18–24 age group accounts for only 7%. Intermediate positions are held by the 45–54 age group (14.7%), the 35–44 age group (11.7%), and the 25–34 age group (10.9%). About 90.5% of traffic comes from users in Ukraine, with significantly smaller amounts coming from Poland (4.2%), Switzerland (1%), Germany (0.7%), and France (0.7%). Direct traffic (51.9%) and organic search (30.3%) remain the primary sources of traffic, while referral traffic accounts for 2.7%, and social media accounts for only 3.3%. Among social media traffic, YouTube (67.6%) and Facebook (30.2%) dominate, with smaller shares coming from Pinterest (0.8%), X (0.6%), and WhatsApp (0.4%).
Men make up 72% of “Channel 24’s” audience, while women account for 28%. Older age groups dominate: those aged 65 and older (36.6%) and those aged 55–64 (22.3%). Other age groups are less represented: 45–54 years old (14.1%), 35–44 years old (10.4%), and 25–34 years old (9.9%), and the youngest group, 18–24 years old, accounts for only 6.6%. Visitors with Ukrainian IP addresses account for 87.6% of traffic, while the largest share of international visitors comes from Poland (4.5%), Germany (1.5%), Russia (1%), and the U.S. (0.7%). Direct visits (53.5%) remain the primary source of traffic, followed by referral links (23.5%) and organic search (17.8%). Social media accounts for the smallest share—only 4% of traffic—and almost all of this traffic comes from Facebook (86.6%), while YouTube (12.4%), Reddit (0.4%), and Pinterest (0.2%) play a minimal role.
“Korrespondent’s” audience consists of 68% men and 32% women. The majority of traffic comes from readers aged 55–65 (43.6%). The 45–54 age group (17%), the 35–44 age group (16.4%), and the 25–34 age group (15.7%) are represented more evenly, while the 18–24 age group accounts for only 7.3%. The Ukrainian audience accounts for 85.6% of traffic, and among international readers, the largest shares of traffic come from Germany (3.6%), Slovakia (1.8%), France (1.5%), and Poland (1.1%). Direct visits (69.7%) and organic search (24.4%) are the main sources of traffic, while social media (2%) and referral links (2.8%) account for significantly less. Among social media platforms, YouTube (74.7%) and Facebook (22.8%) generate the most traffic, with smaller shares coming from WhatsApp (0.9%), Instagram (0.9%), and Reddit (0.5%).
The gender breakdown of the“Censor.Net” audience is 69% men and 31% women. Older age groups form the core of the readership: 55–65 years old (45.4%), the 45–54 age group accounts for 17.2%, while the 35–44 and 25–34 age groups have nearly identical figures—15% and 14.4%, respectively. The youngest group, 18–24 years old, accounts for only 8%. Geographically, the audience with Ukrainian IP addresses predominates (92.4%), with the remainder consisting of small shares from Poland (1.5%), Germany (1.4%), the U.S. (0.80%), and Ireland (0.6%). Nearly 78.9% of traffic comes from direct visits, with another 14.7% coming from organic search. Social media and referrals account for 3.7% and 1.4% of traffic, respectively. Among social media platforms, YouTube (52%) and Facebook (41.9%) play the leading roles, while Instagram (3.6%), Telegram (1.7%), and Reddit (0.8%) together account for a negligible share.
The gender balance at RBC-Ukraine is 71% men versus 29% women. The largest share of readers falls within the 65-year-old age group (34.6%) and the 55–64 age group (22.2%), while other age groups are significantly less represented: 45–54 years old (13.8%), 35–44 years old (11.4%), 25–34 years old (11%), and 18–24 years old (6.9%). Readers with Ukrainian IP addresses account for 82.4% of traffic, and among the international audience, the largest share of traffic comes from readers in Poland (2.6%), Germany (2.1%), the United States (2%), and France (1.2%). The main sources of traffic are direct visits (49.7%) and organic search (24.7%). Referral links account for 17.5% of traffic, and social media accounts for only 3.95%. Among social media platforms, Reddit generates the most traffic (54.4%), while Facebook (28%), YouTube (13.6%), X (1.9%), and Telegram (0.6%) play a smaller role.
NV’s audience consists of 70% men and 30% women. The largest age group is 55–65 years old (52.8%), while the 45–54 age group (14.2%), the 25–34 age group (13.1%), and the 35–44 age group (12.8%) have similar figures. The youngest audience, aged 18–24, accounts for only 7%. The audience with Ukrainian IP addresses accounts for 80.7% of traffic, while the remainder comes from readers in Germany (5.4%), Poland (2%), the United States (1.4%), and Russia (1.4%). Direct visits (51.4%) account for nearly twice as much traffic as organic search (27.5%), while referral links account for 16.9% of traffic. Social media accounts for only 2.8%, with Facebook (48.2%) and Reddit (14.2%) playing the leading roles, while YouTube (13.3%), Telegram (9%), and X (8.3%) have a smaller share.
TCH’s audience is 65% male and 35% female. The largest age group consists of readers aged 65 (30.7%), followed by the 55–64 age group (20.3%). Smaller percentages are represented by the 45–54 age group (14.7%), the 25–34 age group (13.1%), and the 35–44 age group (12.7%). Meanwhile, the youngest group, those aged 18–24, accounts for only 8.4%. Ukrainian IP addresses account for 86% of traffic, with the remainder coming from Germany (2.3%), Poland (1.7%), Russia (1.3%), and the U.S. (0.9%). The bulk of the traffic comes from organic search (40.6%) and direct visits (43.6%), while referral links account for 9.3%. Social media accounts for 4.9% of traffic. Facebook generates the most traffic from social media (87.6%), while YouTube (11%), Reddit (1%), and X (0.2%) account for a negligible share.
Suspilne’s audience is nearly gender-balanced: 57.5% men and 42.5% women. The largest age group consists of readers aged 65 (20.7%); the 55–64 age group (18.4%) and the 25–34 age group (18.2%) show similar figures. The 35–44 age group (16%) and the 45–54 age group (16%) are slightly less represented, while the youngest audience, those aged 18–24, accounts for 11%. Traffic from Ukraine accounts for 94.6%, which is the highest figure among all ten media outlets. The media outlet also receives additional traffic from Germany (1%), Poland (0.9%), the United States (0.5%), and Italy (0.4%). Organic search (42.6%) slightly outpaces direct traffic (41.2%) as the primary source of traffic; referral links account for 3.6%, while social media accounts for 10.9% of traffic. The largest share of social media traffic comes from Facebook (83.6%) and YouTube (13.5%), with significantly less coming from Telegram (1.5%), Reddit (0.6%), and Instagram (0.3%).
SimilarWeb data reveals different content consumption patterns among the analyzed online media outlets. The longest average time spent on a site is at “Censor” (3 min 58 sec), “Ukrainska Pravda” (3 min 28 sec), and “Korrespondent” (2 min 55 sec). These same sites also show the highest number of page views per session: 3.23, 2.42, and 3.6, respectively, which is associated with higher audience engagement, as users consume content more attentively. At the same time, UNIAN (1 min 00 sec), “Channel 24” (1 min 24 sec), and Suspilne (1 min 24 sec) are characterized by the shortest time spent on the site, which may indicate rapid, fragmented news consumption. As for the bounce rate, the highest values are recorded for Suspilne (55.51%), “Ukrainska Pravda” (49.64%), and “Censor” (48.15%). In other words, despite the long time some of these audiences spend on the site, a significant proportion of visitors view only one page and immediately leave the site. The lowest bounce rates are at UNIAN (22.11%) and Oboz.ua (28.43%), indicating that audiences engage more deeply with the content.
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