PACE calls for urgent release of Ukrainian media workers from Russian captivity

The aggressor country, Russia, was called upon to urgently release the Ukrainian journalists in captivity. The PACE resolution emphasized torture, trumped-up charges and mortal danger to media workers.

This was reported by the press service of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The Committee on Culture, Science, Education and the Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has adopted a resolution calling on Russia to immediately release Ukrainian journalists illegally detained in Russia and the occupied regions.

According to the Committee, at least 26 Ukrainian media professionals are still in captivity, facing fabricated charges, torture, enforced disappearances and mortal danger. The Committee emphasizes that international humanitarian law protects journalists as civilians, and their release should be part of any humanitarian process.

The document contains a list of all prisoners and calls for accurate information on their health and whereabouts, as well as access to places of detention for the ICRC, the UN mission and independent humanitarian organizations. In addition, the PACE calls for tougher sanctions against those involved in crimes against journalists, from heads of law enforcement agencies to pre-trial detention centers guards.

The resolution also supports financial assistance to Ukrainian media and the introduction of international accountability mechanisms for violations of journalists' rights. Separately, the committee is launching an annual commemoration called "Victory for Victoria" in honor of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna, who died after more than a year in Russian captivity. In connection with the death of the Ukrainian journalist, the criminal proceedings that were initially opened due to her disappearance were reclassified as a war crime with signs of premeditated murder.

Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Yevhenia Kravchuk emphasized that the resolution demonstrates the effectiveness of international pressure and supports efforts to free Ukrainian journalists, and the final vote will take place during the PACE autumn session on October 1.

Since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014, more than 110 Ukrainian journalists have been held captive by Russia. Currently, at least 26 media professionals remain illegally detained.

In the first two years of the war, the Russian invasion claimed the lives of 70 Ukrainian media professionals: 10 were killed in the line of duty, 47 as combatants, and 13 as a result of shelling or torture by Russian forces.

Анна Бальчінос