PACE calls for immediate release of Ukrainian journalists held by Russia

The resolution, sponsored by Ukrainian MP Yevheniia Kravchuk, was supported by 128 PACE delegates (with one abstention) during the plenary session in Strasbourg, Ukrinform reports.

The document records over 800 crimes against media, including 108 cases of Ukrainian journalists killed since the start of Russia's full-scale war.

"Given the current Russian regime's disregard for international law, the only means at present to ensure the release and return to Ukraine of unlawfully detained journalists is exerting every available political, economic and diplomatic pressure on the Russian Federation. […] Moreover, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and international organizations of which the Russian Federation is a member, in particular the UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), can play an important role in this regard," the resolution states.

The document demands that Russia immediately release all Ukrainian journalists, end the practices of torture, killings, and persecution, provide information about the location and health of detainees, and allow access to the ICRC. It also lists 26 individuals still in captivity, indicating the place and date of their arrest.

Journalists Dmytro Khyliuk and Vladyslav Yesypenko, recently returned from captivity, were present at the PACE session.

Photo: Yevheniia Kravchuk / Facebook

"For the first time, the PACE resolution uses the term 'citizen journalists.' These are mostly not professional journalists, but Crimean Tatar activists and relatives of political prisoners, many of whom must work anonymously. These are the people in Crimea who risk their lives every day," Kravchuk said.

The document calls on Council of Europe member states to support international mechanisms to hold Russia accountable, such as the Register of Damage, the Claims Commission, the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression, and to utilize the International Criminal Court and the principle of universal jurisdiction to prosecute Russian officials.

It also urges sanctioning all those involved in these crimes.

"Sanctions should apply both to senior officials and lower-ranking executors – commanders of Russian operational groups of forces, chiefs of staff and their deputies, unit commanders, fleet commanders, General Staff and GRU leadership, detention facility personnel, and officials responsible for media control and propaganda in occupied territories," Kravchuk said.

Photo: Screenshots, Kravchuk / Facebook