Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
More than 25 Ukrainian journalists are being held in Russian captivity, according to the chair of a Ukrainian parliamentary committee on free speech. Yaroslav Yurchyshyn said that journalists doing their job should never be taken captive, adding that Russia has “generally trampled on any human rights”. In most cases, journalists were captured by the Russian army in the occupied territories. The International Committee of the Red Cross should be able to confirm the whereabouts of the prisoners, but its representatives do not have access to the detention centres where Ukrainians are being held. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed 548 crimes against the media in Ukraine, according to the Institute of Mass Information. More than 70 journalists have been killed, including reporters from Lithuania, France and the US. Others have come under fire as well as being threatened and harassed for doing their job, while 13 newsrooms have been attacked and 13 television towers hit by Russian missiles.