'Fired In Middle Of War Zone': Washington Post's Ukraine Correspondent Laid Off

The Washington Post's Ukraine correspondent has announced that she was laid off by the billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper "in the middle of a warzone." Lizzie Johnson, who had been covering the Russia-Ukraine war for the publication, said she was "devastated" by the move. 

The Washington Post laid off one-third of its staff on Wednesday, eliminating its sports section, several foreign bureaus, and its books coverage in a widespread purge that represented one of the worst blows to journalism and one of its most legendary brands. Johnson's termination was part of the move.

"I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a war zone. I have no words. I'm devastated," Johnson wrote on social media shortly after receiving news. 

I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. https://t.co/dVCLF39YV1

— lizzie johnson (@lizziejohnsonnn) February 4, 2026

She posted the message, tagging one of her older posts from January 26, where she posted a photo of herself working in the backseat of a car. In the post, she had opened up about the difficulties of working in a warzone and wrote, "Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil - pen ink freezes—by headlamp. Despite how difficult this job can be, I am proud to be a foreign correspondent at The Washington Post."

The Post's Ukraine bureau chief, Siobhan O'Grady, has also been laid off. In her post on X, she wrote, "It's been the honour of my life to serve as Washington Post bureau chief in Ukraine."

Who Is Lizzie Johnson?

Before her termination, Johnson was The Washington Post's Ukraine correspondent, based in Kyiv. She joined the publication's international desk from investigative, where she was a reporter on the narrative accountability team.

Before that, she was a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle. Johnson is a four-time finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists, most recently for international reporting. Her in-depth coverage of California's wildfire crisis led to her first book, 'Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire," which was developed into the Apple film "The Lost Bus," starring Matthew McConaughey and America Ferrera. 

A Nebraska native, she joined The Post in 2021, according to her bio on the publication's website. 

WaPo Layoffs

The Washington Post, owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, began widespread layoffs that will drastically shrink the size of the storied newspaper and affect all departments, according to a recording of a company-wide call. The cuts will impact a third of all employees, according to the newspaper's spokesperson. 

The newsroom is losing "hundreds" of staffers, according to a spokesperson for the Washington-Baltimore News Guild union, which represents Post employees.

Executive Editor Matt Murray informed the staff of the reductions, which will impact the international, editing, metro and sports desks and come just days after the newspaper, founded in 1877, scaled back its coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics amid mounting financial losses.

"For too long, we've operated with a structure that's too rooted in the days when we were a quasi-monopoly local newspaper," Murray said on the call, adding that "we need a new way forward and a sounder foundation." 

Bezos bought the newspaper in 2013 for $250 million from the Graham family.