According to Tetyana Katrychenko, executive director of the NGO "Media Initiative for Human Rights", 31 Ukrainian journalists are currently in Russian captivity.
Why is Russia holding dozens of Ukrainian journalists captive?
As of today, the media initiative for human rights has identified 31 media persons kidnapped by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine. In many cases, the fate of these people remains unknown. Neither relatives nor human rights defenders can get information about their whereabouts and health status, Katrychenko notes.
According to her, the organization headed by her is studying the facts of the detention of Ukrainian civilians in the occupied territories, including journalists.
The NGO "Media Initiative for Human Rights" has information about Aziz Azirov, Ernes Ametov, Osman Arifmemetov, Marlen Asanov, Asan Akhtemov, Remzi Bekirov, Oleksiy Bessarabov, Maksym Butkevich, Vladyslav Gershon, Anastasia Glukhovskaya, Iryna Danylovich being held captive in Russia. , Nariman Dzhelal, Vladyslav Yesipenko, Timur Ibragimov, Yevhen Ilchenko, Georgy Levchenko, Iryna Levchenko, Oleksandr Malyshev, Server Mustafayev, Rustem Osmanov, Gennady Osmak, Victoria Roschyna, Maksym Rupchev, Seyran Saliev, Yana Suvorova, Amet Suleymanov, Ruslan Suleymanov, Vilena Temeryanov, Dmytro Khylyuk, Serhiy Tsihipa, Rustem Sheikhaliyev, Dmytro Shtyblykov.
What is known about the fate of some Ukrainian journalists kidnapped by Russia
Katrychenko noted that all these people, other journalists, and Ukrainian civilians are in terrible conditions.
They are kept in solitary confinement and subjected to torture, representatives of international human rights organizations and lawyers are not allowed to visit them, and they are forbidden to communicate with their relatives.
In particular, the director of the NGO "Media Initiative" noted that she still has no information about Dmytro Khilyuk, a journalist of the "UNIAN" publication, who war criminals of the Russian army abducted on March 3, 2022.
It is noted that the Russian occupiers abducted a Ukrainian journalist near his own home in the village of Kozarovychi in the Kyiv region.
Hylyuk was taken to Novozybkiv in the Bryansk region through the territory of Belarus. There, the Russian occupiers kept most of the Ukrainian citizens kidnapped during the occupation of the Kyiv region.
For a long time, the Russian Federation did not confirm the detention of Dmytro and hundreds of similar persons from the Kyiv region.
The first secretary of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, Lina Kush, said that information about Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roschyna was recently received.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation confirmed to Victoria's father that the journalist is currently on the territory of Russia, as well as that she is imprisoned, Kush said.
According to her, the annual meeting of the European Federation of Journalists was held recently, where the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine offered a general statement in support of imprisoned Ukrainian journalists.
