RSF - Reporters sans frontières

09/29/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/29/2025 22:47

Ukraine: the media professionals arbitrarily detained by Russia

Three years after Russia organised sham annexation referendums in southern and eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin is still hunting down independent journalists in the occupied territories. Arrested, tortured, or forced into exile, these media professionals have been silenced and replaced by propaganda mouthpieces. With 26 media professionals imprisoned, Russia is the biggest jailer of Ukrainian journalists. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) highlights the plight of these journalists, detained for refusing to bow to Kremlin propaganda.

Secret detention, torture, forced labour- The Kremlin's repressive machine is relentless in its efforts to silence independent Ukrainian voices in the country's occupied regions. These reporters' only "crime" is to have documented, for Ukrainian media outlets or local channels on Telegram, the consequences of the 2014 Russian invasion and the large-scale war that began in February 2022 - without cowing to Russia's official narratives. One of these journalists, Victoria Roshchyna, diedin captivity in Russia on 19 September 2024, after being arrested and tortured.

Three years after Russia's claimed "integration" of these regions on 30 September 2022, RSF has released a gallery of portraits - updated in real-time of these imprisoned Ukrainian journalists and media workers. The information for several of these cases was gathered by RSF partner organisations in Ukraine, such as the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) and the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR).

EUROPE - CENTRAL ASIA
Ukraine
Découvrir le pays
Image
62/ 180
Score : 63.93
EUROPE - CENTRAL ASIA
Russia
Découvrir le pays
Image
171/ 180
Score : 24.57
Published on29.09.2025
  • EUROPE - CENTRAL ASIA
  • Ukraine
  • Arbitrary detention and proceedings
  • News
  • Editor
  • Investigative journalist
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