Russia holds in captivity 32 Ukrainian media representatives

Acting Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine Rostyslav Karandieiev said that 32 Ukrainian media representatives are in Russian captivity. According to him, negotiations are underway for their return as soon as possible.

Karandieiev said this during a trip to the Zaporizhzhia region, Rubryka reports, referring to the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy (MCIP).

The ministry informed that during the trip, Karandieiev met with local mass media representatives. The topic of the meeting was also the support of regional media and the return of captured journalists.

"Ukraine's restoration begins with the regions. That's why we have to start these processes right now, in particular, involving those who will broadcast this revival, interpret the change, and engage in the formation of critical thinking in society," said the acting minister of culture.

He noted that MCIP is already preparing a budget declaration for next year, with a "serious emphasis" on financial support for regional media, particularly print media.

Karandieiev also commented on the activities of Telegram channels and TikTok. According to him, about 350 "hostile channels" exist in the Telegram messenger, while several dozen have already been blocked.

What is known about the captured Ukrainian journalists

One of the last media workers detained by the occupiers was Viktoriia Roshchyna. She went to fulfill a professional duty in the temporarily occupied territory and lost contact a few months ago.

We will remind that in March 2022, Roschyna was already captured by the Russian forces and held in Berdyansk for ten days. After five days, the Russians released her from captivity.

In addition, the Russians are holding captive Iryna Levchenko, who covered the events in Melitopo and Zaporizhzhia.

Dmytro Khylyuk, a journalist for the UNIAN news agency, was also taken prisoner by the Russian forces during the attempted occupation of Kyiv and the Kyiv region and is currently in one of Russia's prisons.

It should be noted that in May 2023, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets said, in response to a question about whether there were any developments in the issue of the release of UNIAN journalist Khylyuk from Russian captivity, that at the moment, all the efforts made by the Ukrainian authorities, him personally and other state authorities of Ukraine, are not showing a positive result.

We would like to remind that over 100 Ukrainian and foreign journalists accredited in Ukraine suffered from Russian aggression during two years of full-scale war in our country.