Ukraine to give Vatican list of journalists illegally held by Russia – Zelenskyy
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his evening address on October 11, 2024, said that Ukraine needs special assistance from the Vatican regarding the exchange of prisoners of war and civilian hostages.
“This morning, in the Vatican, I met with Pope Francis and Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin. The release of our people from Russian captivity is a very sensitive issue for Ukraine and many families in our country. This includes warriors and civilians, children and adults — thousands of Ukrainians. Yesterday, we learned that [27-year-old] Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna died in Russian captivity. My condolences to her family,” Zelenskyy said.
He and the Pope agreed that Ukraine would provide a list of journalists currently held captive in Russia and would discuss the release of civilians and deported children.
Zelenskyy also invited the Vatican to participate in a meeting in Canada focusing on the Peace Formula’s humanitarian issues component.
In June 2024, the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) revealed that Russia has taken at least 100 journalists hostage since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014. Currently, 30 Ukrainian media workers remain in Russian detention.
At the “Journalists Matter: a call to free Ukrainian journalists held in captivity by the Russian Federation” event during the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) session in Strasbourg, France, on June 26, Kateryna Diachuk, head of IMI’s freedom of speech monitoring department, presented a list of 30 captive journalists.
- Iryna Danylovych
- Vladyslav Yesypenko
- Victoria Roshchyna [killed in Russian captivity];
- Dmytro Khyliuk
- Iryna Levchenko
- Oleksandr Malyshev
- Heorhiy Levchenko
- Maksym Rupchov
- Yana Suvorova
- Mark Kaliush
- Kostyantyn Zynovkin
- Oleksiy Bessarabov
- Dmytro Shtyblikov
- Seyran Saliyev
- Marlen Asanov
- Timur Ibrahimov
- Server Mustafayev
- Osman Arifmemetov
- Remzi Bekirov
- Ruslan Suleymanov
- Rustem Sheikhaliyev
- Amet Suleymanov
- Asan Akhtemov
- Vilen Temeryanov
- Ernest Ametov
- Nariman Celal
- Anastasia Hlukhovska
- Rustem Osmanov
- Aziz Azizov
- Vladyslav Hershon.
Diachuk emphasised that all these individuals are civilians, despite Russia’s attempts to label them as combatants. She cited the case of Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist captured in 2022 during the occupation of Kyiv oblast and subsequently taken to Russia.
The IMI report indicates that Russia has imprisoned these journalists on spurious charges, often imposing lengthy sentences of 14 to 20 years. Diachuk alleged that detainees face torture, abuse, and denial of medical care.
“Russia aims to conceal its crimes against journalists,” Diachuk explained. “Journalists document Russia’s crimes, and Russia wants to prevent this information from spreading globally. We lack a mechanism for exchanging imprisoned civilians similar to POW swaps, creating a stalemate. We discuss their plight, but concrete action is lacking.”
Diachuk highlighted that families and attorneys of unlawfully imprisoned journalists frequently do not have access to them.
“The IMI has interviewed journalists who had been imprisoned by Russia. They say that the Russian troops occupying our cities had lists of journalists, activists, patriots, and prioritized purging these categories, which may be another evidence of the crime of genocide and warrants special international assessment,” Diachuk said.
The IMI expert urged the international community to take proactive steps to secure the release of captive journalists and hold perpetrators accountable.
“I call for concrete action: a genuine, legally binding international investigation. We must use this investigation to bring Russian officials to justice. I urge you to exert international pressure on Russia. We need to raise awareness about these journalists’ fate and utilize international mechanisms to determine their location and detention conditions,” Diachuk appealed.
IMI’s monitoring data shows that in the two years and four months of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed 602 crimes against journalists and media outlets in Ukraine.
