“Kremlin’s judicial machine is working at full speed against arbitrarily detained Ukrainian reporters,” – RSF

The deportation to russia of Ukrainian reporter Hennadii Osmak, imprisoned since 2024, and the unjust 14-year prison sentence handed down to Crimean journalist Vilen Temeryanov, who has been in custody since 2022, illustrate that the russian authorities are continuing their repression of independent media workers arrested in the occupied regions of Ukraine, says a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

RSF condemns this arbitrary judicial machine and demands the immediate release of the 26 Ukrainian reporters imprisoned by the Kremlin.

“In my entire life, I have never been convicted of breaking the law […], and although I spent three years in prison, I have not committed a single offense, not even a minor one. This is the reality, and it absolutely does not correspond to the charges brought against me.”

These words, spoken on November 25 by Crimean reporter Vilen Temeryanov during his trial, illustrate the repression unleashed against independent Ukrainian journalists persecuted by the Kremlin in the occupied territories. On Wednesday, November 26, a military court in Rostov-on-Don, in southwestern russia, sentenced him to 14 years in prison for “participation in a terrorist organization” and “preparation for a violent overthrow of power.” The reporter, who worked for the now-closed independent local media outlet Grany.ru and was arrested in August 2022, remains in a maximum-security prison.

The day before, on November 25, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, a non-governmental organization that specializes in human rights violations in Crimea, reported that two months ago, Ukrainian journalist Hennadii Osmak was transferred from the occupied territories of Ukraine to a maximum-security penal colony in Melekhovo, in the Vladimir Oblast, east of Moscow. According to his relatives, who have not heard from him for several weeks, he did not have access to the necessary diabetes treatment. He was subjected to physical and psychological violence. Arrested in March 2024 in the occupied Kherson region, he was sentenced in August 2024 to three years and two months in prison for “participation in an illegal armed group.” His appeal is scheduled for trial on December 11.

“The unjust sentence of Vilen Temeryanov and the deportation of Hennadii Osmak to russia are examples of Moscow’s use of the judicial system to suppress the voices of Ukrainian journalists arrested in the occupied territories. Twenty-six Ukrainian reporters are being held by the Kremlin, subjected to physical or psychological violence, and isolated from their loved ones. They must be released immediately,” said Pauline Maufrais, Ukraine area manager at RSF.

Mass convictions and deportations

The number of convictions of Ukrainian reporters, victims of systematic deportations to russia or other occupied territories, is increasing. In October 2025, Yana Suvorova, the administrator of the local Telegram channel Melitopol is Ukraine, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Before her, reporters Vladyslav Hershon and Heorhii Levchenko were sentenced to 15 and 16 years in prison, respectively.