Imprisonment of Civilians and Journalists – A Russian War Crime That Must Be Stopped

Appeal by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine to the participants of the conference on the fourth point of the Peace Formula “Release of Prisoners and Deported Persons”, October 30-31, Canada
For over a decade, UN member state the Russian Federation has deliberately and systematically committed war crimes in Ukraine against civilians and journalists through fabricated cases, illegal imprisonment, detention in inhumane conditions, and torture. We regretfully acknowledge that international organizations, including international courts, and the global community have been powerless against the aggressor’s cynicism, failing to stop this prolonged war crime despite demands from Ukrainian state bodies and civil society organizations, including the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, a member of the European and International Federations of Journalists.
The issue is so critical and painful for our country that it sparked the “Captivity Kills” movement in Ukraine, which documents specific cases of murdered civilians and journalists who were imprisoned. Recently, we received the horrifying news about the death of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna in Russian captivity, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported to Pope Francis during his Vatican visit. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, 18 journalists have died while performing their professional duties. Approximately 30 Ukrainian journalists are illegally held in Russian prisons, subjected to torture, denied medical care, and isolated from their families, children, and colleagues. According to Ukrainian data, thousands of civilian prisoners are illegally held in Russian prisons. Among the imprisoned journalists are Dmytro Khyliuk, Iryna Levchenko, Hennadiy Osmak, Yana Suvorova, and others.
Radio Liberty journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko has been in Russian captivity for over 4 years. Citizen journalist Iryna Danylovych suffers from illness without medical care in a Russian prison; her father recently died while fighting for the release of his unjustly convicted sick daughter. Russia has groundlessly and illegally imprisoned civilian journalists from Crimea based on fabricated cases, including Remzi Bekirov, Dmytro Shtyblikov, Serhiy Tsyhipa, Volodymyr Dudka, Oleksiy Bessarabov, Seyran Saliyev, Server Mustafayev, Ruslan Suleymanov, and many others.

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine draws global attention to the unacceptability of continuing the crime of imprisoning civilians and journalists, which violates international law protecting civilian populations from war threats. This is not merely a violation of freedom of speech and civil rights – these are crimes against humanity that must be stopped, and the perpetrators must be punished according to law.
We call on the global community to join Ukraine’s demands for the Russian Federation to:
• Ensure transparency in all civilian prisoner cases, especially journalists
• Provide access to the prisoners
• Support all humanitarian aid programs
• Mandatorily overturn verdicts in fabricated cases
• Ensure their freedom, freedom of speech
• Punish those responsible for illegal repressions
We urge the global community to join President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula, particularly in uniting global efforts to implement its fourth point on creating mechanisms for the unconditional release of deportees and civilian prisoners, including journalists, who are being held in violation of both international law and Russia’s own domestic legislation.

National Union of Journalists of Ukraine