List of Ukrainian journalists detained by Russia revealed

To mark Journalist’s Day in Ukraine on June 6, the international organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) published a gallery showcasing portraits of 29 Ukrainian media professionals currently being unlawfully detained by Russia.

According to RSF’s report, the majority of these journalists were detained in temporarily occupied territories. They are being targeted simply for carrying out their professional duties — especially for trying to independently cover Russia’s full-scale invasion.

“The Kremlin’s repressive strategies relentlessly seek to silence Ukraine’s independent voices. This brutal crackdown has made Russia the third-largest jailer of journalists in the world — and the leading jailer of Ukrainian journalists, as 29 are currently detained in Russia or in the territories it occupies. Their “crime” is documenting the consequences of the Russian invasions of 2014 and 2022 — without ever giving in to Kremlin propaganda,” the organization wrote in a statement.

Here are the media workers, imprisoned by Russia:

Iryna Danylovych

Vilen Temerianov

Dmytro Khyliuk

Amet Suleimanov

Marlen Asanov

Ruslan Suleimanov

Iryna Levchenko

Eugeniy Ilchenko

Yana Suvorova

Oleksandr Malyshev

Heorhiy Levchenko

Maksym Rupchev

Mark Kaliush

Dmytro Shtyblykov

Timur Ibrahimov

Anastasia Hlukhovska

Asan Akhtemov

Aziz Azizov

Ernes Ametov

Oleksii Bessarabov

Osman Arifmemetov

Remsi Bekirov

Rustem Osmanov

Server Mustafaiev

Vladyslav Hershon

Vladyslav Yesypenko

Seiran Saliev

Amet Suleimanov

Rustem Sheikhaliev

Some of the documented cases by RSF were collected in cooperation with Ukrainian organizations — the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) and the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR).

Overall, according to Pauline Maufrais, RSF’s regional officer for Ukraine, there are currently 50 journalists from around the world held captive by Russia. The majority are Ukrainians.

“Today, Vladimir Putin is one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, with 50 media professionals imprisoned by Russia,” said Maufrais. “Ukrainians are at the forefront of this repression: 29 are detained, some for nearly a decade, often held thousands of kilometres from their families and subjected to inhumane treatment. Victoria Roshchyna, arrested in August 2023, even lost her life in captivity. In Russia and the occupied territories, reporting independently leads to prison — sometimes to death. RSF, which has taken legal action to fight impunity for these war crimes, honours the courage of these journalists and urges the international community to act without delay to secure their release.” 

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is an international non-governmental human rights organization that protects freedom of speech worldwide. The organization fights censorship and advocates for the release of journalists imprisoned because of their professional activities.

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