THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
“I’ll kiss, hug, and then, I’ll blow all the dust away from him,” Halyna Khyliuk dreams of the future meeting with her son with tears in her eyes. Her son, Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist for the UNIAN news agency, has been in russian captivity for over two and a half years. The young man’s only fault is his profession.
“Held for the 3rd year in a row just for being a journalist”
On February 26, 2022, russian invaders captured the village of Kozarovychi near Kyiv. On March 1, they searched the house of the Khyliuks, parents of the Ukrainian journalist. The next day, during a firefight, a shell flew into the house – one of the walls was destroyed. It was not possible to stay in the house, and the Khyliuks moved in with their neighbors.
And March 3, 2022, was a fateful day for the family.
“Dima and I went to our house to see what was going on here; we wanted to clean up a little. And as soon as we get to the house, five people with assault rifles shout and shoot,” Dmytro‘s father, Vasyl Khyliuk, told the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) in an interview. “They put Dima [Dmytro] on the floor and shot near his ear. They forced him to undress, looking for patriotic tattoos. And then, they pulled jackets over our heads and dragged us to one of the enterprises. My son and I were kept separately. It was very cold… I was told that my son was released, but I was lied to as he wasn’t. Then, we were both transferred to another company. We were able to talk. We talked more about the mother – she suffered a stroke not long before, and Dima was very worried about her….”
After twelve days in captivity, the father was finally released, while Dmytro remained in captivity. When the father asked why they were not letting his son go, they answered: “The war will end in a couple of days – and he will come.”
After that, no information was received from Dmytro for a long time. It was only possible to find out that he was taken to the territory of russia.
According to the editor-in-chief of UNIAN, Mykhailo Hannytskyi, the journalist managed to write him private messages from the occupied village about the broken house and empty shops. It is important to emphasize that Dmytro did not transmit any data about the russian troops. It is not known whether the occupiers knew that Dmytro was a journalist.
For a long time, the only news of the captivity from Dmytro was only one short letter from the russian colony that arrived in the summer – just three sentences: “Dear mom and dad, I’m alive and well. I’m fine. Dima“. For a long time, this short note was the only confirmation that the journalist was alive.
“They keep him for the third year – and it would be for nothing. For being a journalist… We don’t know if any charges have been brought against him, we don’t know where he is… I’m afraid to say that I have no hope. We have to hope. I pray for him,” Dmytro‘s mother, Hanna Khyliuk, shared her pain with the journalists of the NUJU information service.
Only at the beginning of April 2024, Khyliuk‘s relatives managed to get confirmation from the ministry of defense of the russian federation that he was “detained and is in the territory of the russian federation.” However, the reasons for this “detention” are still unknown.
“By detaining Dmytro Khyliuk, russia acts in contempt of the Geneva Convention”
The Reporters Without Borders international organization conducted a series of investigations into the fate of the Ukrainian journalist. According to their data, Dmytro Khyliuk was first held in cold storage at the Hostomel airport, then in the Novozybkovskyi pre-trial detention center two near the border with Ukraine, and later transferred to the Vladimir Oblast of russia. According to the latest data, as of July 2024, he was held in the IK-7 correctional colony in Pakino, Vladimir Oblast.
A man named Ihor, who spent almost a year in the same cell with Khyliuk, told Reporters Without Borders after returning to Ukraine that he was surprised to see Dmytro‘s old photo. “He doesn’t look like he used to,” Ihor said. According to him, fifteen prisoners – Ukrainian prisoners who are kept in a cell, are constantly beaten, humiliated, and subjected to propaganda conversations. In the middle of winter, prisoners were forced to walk around the prison yard completely naked. Dogs are unleashed on prisoners; prisoners are regularly forced to sing the russian national anthem and deprived of food. According to Ihor, Dmytro now weighs no more than 45 kilograms.
“By keeping this Ukrainian journalist, who has committed no crime, in prison, russia continues to flout the Geneva Convention,” said Reporters Without Borders head of investigations, Arnaud Froger. “The use of civilians as military spoils to “extract” information or “brainwash” adds to the long list of atrocities committed by the chatter of war. Dmytro Khyliuk is currently a state hostage. He should be released unconditionally.”
Dmytro Khyliuk‘s case is not an isolated one. According to the NUJU, about 30 media workers and citizen journalists are in captivity as a result of illegal detentions, captures, false accusations, and falsified “trials” of the russian occupiers on the territory of Ukraine.
“Russia detains our colleagues on the grounds of ‘countering a special military operation, terrorism, extremism, espionage’ and, taking advantage of legal uncertainty, detains journalists, preventing them from starting the procedure for their release,” explains Lina Kushch, the First Secretary of the NUJU. “While there is no such procedure, we can only resort to campaigns of solidarity with the prisoners and informing the international community.”
According to the Media Initiative for Human Rights, at least 4,000 civilians are in this situation. These persons, like Dmytro Khyliuk, are almost completely excluded from the exchange of prisoners of war. “Russians behave as if Dmytro no longer exists,” comments Tetiana Katrychenko, coordinator of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, on russia’s position.
“To bring closer the moment when we will congratulate every journalist illegally imprisoned by russia on their freedom”
For the first year after the capture of Dmytro Khyliuk, the UNIAN agency, on the recommendation of the relevant state structures, did not disclose information about him, hoping that informational silence would facilitate the faster release of the journalist. However, as it turned out, such tactics did not work. “Never once has the russian side fulfilled its promise regarding Dmytro and several other people. They agreed on the lists for the evening, but they don’t bring them for exchange in the morning,” says Mykhailo Hannytskyi.
Therefore, UNIAN and the 1+1 media group, which includes this news agency, called on the journalistic community to actively demand the release of their colleague.
The NUJU is conducting systematic work for the release of Dmytro Khyliuk and other imprisoned journalists, including in the international arena. During the opening of the photo exhibition “Ukraine: Journalists on the Front Line,” NUJU Chairman Sergiy Tomilenko said that practice shows that every independent journalist is a threat to the occupiers.
The NUJU initiated the involvement of the International Press Institute (IPI) in mediating efforts to free journalists from russian captivity.
“We call on international organizations and the Ukrainian authorities to strengthen their influence, although it is extremely difficult, on russia, which does not adhere to any conventions, any international rules that oblige to respect the work of journalists even in wartime,” emphasized Sergiy Tomilenko, speaking May 2, 2023, from the rostrum of the UN General Assembly. “We want to bring closer to the moment when we will congratulate every journalist who is, unfortunately, illegally imprisoned by russia on his freedom.”
Sergiy Tomilenko called for the unconditional release from russian captivity of Ukrainian journalists Dmytro Khyliuk, Iryna Levchenko, Vladyslav Yesypenko, Viktoria Roshchina, Iryna Danylovych, Sever Mustafayev, and other colleagues, speaking in May 2024 at the Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ). The result was an appeal officially published by the EFJ. Unfortunately, the day of liberation will never come for the 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina – on September 19, 2024; she died in russian captivity.
On November 2, 2023, at the call of the NUJU, the participants in the solidarity action with the imprisoned journalists signed solidarity cards to their enslaved colleagues. One of the addressees of these letters was Dmytro Khyliuk. Unfortunately, Dmytro‘s whereabouts were unknown at the time, so the NUJU handed them over to the journalist’s parents. Media workers from many regions of Ukraine supported this initiative. Lviv student journalists, in addition to letters, also wrote an eloquent poster reading, “We are impatiently waiting for your return home to a peaceful, calm, warm HOME.”
And in April 2024, during the opening of the Council of Europe’s Journalists Matter campaign in Ukraine, Sergiy Tomilenko once again emphasized the importance of joint steps to free Ukrainian journalists from russian captivity. “I see an important emphasis on legal, effective human rights assistance to the families of journalists who have been taken hostage. Their relatives need to be consulted about algorithms of actions. Today, the relatives of Iryna Levchenko, Dmytro Khyliuk, and other enslaved colleagues need daily support and advice on where to go,” said Sergiy Tomilenko, speaking at the event.
On July 19, 2024, International and European Federations of Journalists officially joined the NUJU campaign for the release of captured colleagues, publishing a statement: “The russian authorities must immediately release illegally detained Ukrainian journalists in the occupied territories.”
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a resolution on the need to secure the release of captured Ukrainian journalists. The Parliament is asking for help from the UN, EU and NATO member states, Parliamentary Assemblies of the Council of Europe, OSCE and NATO, IC Red Cross, International and European Federations of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders.
The NUJU does not stop fighting for the release of Dmytro Khyliuk and other Ukrainian journalists from russian captivity. The Union documents war crimes against journalists, conducts systematic work with international partners, and calls for increased pressure on russia to release illegally detained media persons.
On August 30, 2024, on the International Day of Missing Persons, more than 400 native captives and missing persons gathered in the capital’s exhibition center, Ukrainian House, for the presentation of the photo exhibition titled United Hearts of Families of the Missing and Imprisoned. The event was organized by the NUJU together with the International Commission on Missing Persons to remind once again about those Ukrainians who are currently in russian captivity.
The case of Dmytro Khyliuk and other illegally imprisoned Ukrainian journalists received wide publicity. The European Federation of Journalists and other international organizations insist on the observance of the principle of freedom of speech and human rights for media workers. “We demand the immediate release of journalists who were imprisoned just for doing their job!” stresses the EFJ President, Maya Sever.
In 2023, Dmytro Khyliuk received the prestigious Platform of European Memory and Conscience award. This prize is awarded to individuals who fight against totalitarianism for the ideals of democracy, basic human rights and freedoms, and the rule of law. Dmytro‘s candidacy was supported by representatives of 48 institutions that are part of the platform.
“I want to call on the whole world, all honest people, our government to help us free our child from captivity!” Dmytro Khyliuk‘s mother, Hanna, said in a comment to the NUJU. “It is unthinkable to be kept in captivity for almost three years. Journalists, if you have the opportunity, appeal to the whole world to put an end to this bloody war in Europe, a war from which people are suffering and dying, and there is no end to it. Who to write to? Who to contact? The only option is the Lord God… On which wings to fly to see your child at home?… Look at our mutilation! Free our child from captivity!”
The story of Dmytro Khyliuk became an example of how important it is not to forget about every prisoner of the occupation regime and to fight for their freedom. Dmytro‘s release remains one of the priority tasks for the Ukrainian journalistic community and international human rights organizations.
NUJU Information Service
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