More than 110 journalists are in Russian captivity

Since 2014, at least 112 journalists are in Russian captivity. The head of the freedom of speech monitoring department at the Institute of Mass Information, Ekaterina Dyachuk, announced this at a briefing on Monday, November 4, Ukrinform reports.

He noted that in 2022, after the start of a large-scale war, more than 50 cases were recorded in which journalists were captured by the Russian Federation.

Dyachuk noted that the list of arrested media workers also includes civilian journalists from Crimea, who were sentenced by the Russian Federation to significant prison terms.

He also reported that the Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Khilyuk, who was kidnapped by the Russians in March 2022, is in Vladimir Colony No. 7. He was transferred there from Bryansk pre-trial detention center No. 2 in the spring of 2023.

“We first learned about it through the International Red Cross, fortunately, ICRC representatives were able to enter colony No. 7 and saw Khiluk in person was not allowed in this colony – said journalist, friend and colleague of Khilyuk Natalya Boguta.

According to him, the prisoners in this colony do not receive any letters from their relatives and cannot send anything from there itself.

Russia did not return the body of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchina, who died in Russian captivity, as part of an exchange that took place on October 18.

There are 31 Ukrainian journalists in captivity in Russia. This is what the executive director of the public organization Media Initiative for Human Rights said.