Reporters Without Borders has spoken out against amnesty for Russian crimes against journalists in Ukraine
The international press freedom organisation, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), has joined an international call to prevent any amnesty for war crimes against journalists within the framework of possible agreements to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
RSF, along with the Media Freedom Rapid Response initiative and Ukrainian and international media organizations, called for rejecting of any amnesty for crimes committed against media workers.
The human rights organization emphasized that even if a peace agreement is concluded, impunity for attacks on journalists is unacceptable, as it undermines the possibility of a just and lasting peace.
RSF noted that since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, at least 16 Ukrainian and foreign journalists have been killed, dozens injured, and the number of attacks on media infrastructure has significantly increased.
“No lasting peace can be built on impunity. The perpetrators of war crimes against journalists must be identified and held accountable before international and national justice,” stated Pauline Maufrais, RSF’s Regional Manager for Ukraine.
In addition, RSF noted that since February 2022, it has documented, among other international crimes, at least 26 instances of arbitrary detention in the occupied territories or in the Russian Federation.
RSF has filed a series of complaints regarding these crimes with the International Criminal Court (ICC), as well as Ukrainian and French courts, emphasizing the need to punish those responsible.
You may also want to read: List of imprisoned Ukrainian journalists 2025 in temporarily occupied Crimea
To provide background, due to the Russian invasion, at least 16 media workers have died while performing their duties. Among them is Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who was killed after being tortured in Russian captivity in 2024.
Some journalists were executed by Russian forces, while others died from artillery or drone attacks. These include French photojournalist Antoine Lallicant, killed by a Russian FPV drone in eastern Ukraine in October 2025, as well as Ukrainian journalists Alona Hramova and Yevhen Karmazin, who were killed by another Russian drone in the Donetsk Oblast.
