The 33rd annual session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which will take place in the Hague on 6 July 2026, will feature the special side event “Investigating Russia’s Crimes Against Media in Ukraine: Call for Justice”.
The event is initiated by Ukraine’s Temporarily Parliamentary Commission for Investigating Russia’s Crimes against Journalists and co-organised by the Ukrainian and French Delegations to OSCE PA, the international organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and the Ukrainian civil society organisation Institute of Mass Information (IMI).
- Date & Time: 6 July 2026, 12:30–14:00.
- Venue: World Forum The Hague, Room Yangtze 1, The Hague, The Netherlands.
- Format: Panel discussion and Q&A
- Language: English
The event will feature MPs, international institution representatives, media experts, family and friends of deceased journalists. Testimonies and evidence of Russia’s crimes against media and journalists in Ukraine will be presented.
Topics for discussion:
1. The scale and systematic character of Russia’s crimes against media in Ukraine since 2022: murder, injuries, frivolous detention, strikes at media infrastructure.
2. Qualifying attacks on journalists as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
3. Investigation progress: proceedings by Ukraine’s Prosecutor General and the Parliament’s Temporary Investigative Commission at work.
4. Testimonies by families of deceased journalists and by journalists wounded in Russian strikes.
5. The role of international institutions in supporting justice, ensuring the perpetrators bear responsibility, and protecting journalists in areas of ongoing armed conflicts.
Speakers:
- Mykyta Poturaiev, Head of the Ukrainian Delegation to OSCE PA
- Pere Joan Pons Sampietro, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
- Pascal Allizard, Head of the French Delegation
- Andriy Kostin, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Prosecutor General of Ukraine (2022–2024)
- Yevheniia Kravchuk, Chairwoman of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Parliament of Ukraine on the Investigation of Crimes Committed by the Russian Federation against Journalists
- Aida Belloulid, partner of Antoni Lallican, French photo reporter killed by a Russian FPV drone in Ukraine in 2025
- Heorhii (George) Ivanchenko, Ukrainian photojournalist, critically injured and survivor of amputation in the same Russian FPV drone attack as Antoni Lallican in Ukraine in 2025
- Oleksandra Novosel, production producer, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne Kharkiv
- Maxime Brandstaetter, French journalist, BFM TV; former colleague of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, French journalist killed by Russian troops in Ukraine in 2022
- Oksana Romaniuk, Director, Institute of Mass Information (IMI), Ukraine
- Antoine Bernard, Director of Advocacy and Assistance, Reporters without Borders (RSF)
- Myroslava Krasnoborova, Liaison Prosecutor for Ukraine at Eurojust
- Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Chairman of the Committee on Freedom of Speech, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
- Pascal Lecamp, Deputy Head of the French Delegation
Photo exhibition Courage to Report
A thematic photo exhibition about the work of Ukrainian journalists in wartime will be presented alongside the event at the World Forum The Hague from 4 through 8 July 2026. The exhibition is co-organised by: Institute of Mass Information (IMI), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Ukrainian Delegation to OSCE PA, Internews, Media Development Foundation (MDF), the Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Russia targeting the media in Ukraine
According to the Institute of Mass Information, Russia has committed at least 950 crimes against journalists and the media in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion.
- At least 131 media professionals have been killed by Russian forces since 2022, with 15 dying while reporting and 14 as civilian casualties.
- At least 337 media outlets have gone out of business or had to pause operations due to Russia’s aggression or its consequences.
- Russia has attacked Ukrainian media offices at least 85 times, some repeatedly. No fewer than 78 news outlets have been affected by the attacks.
- At least 26 Ukrainian media workers remain unlawfully imprisoned by Russia; some have been jailed for 10 years.
The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) is a civil society organization specializing in the media, operating since 1996. IMI defends the rights of journalists, studies the media landscape and reports on media-related events, fights propaganda and disinformation, and provides media workers with safety equipment for trips to combat areas (since the start of the Russo–Ukrainian war in 2014).
IMI carries out the only monitoring study of freedom of speech in Ukraine, keeps a list of transparent and responsible online media outlets, and tracks Russia’s media crimes in the war on Ukraine. IMI has representatives in 20 oblasts of Ukraine and runs a network of Media Hubs that provide journalists with unfailing support. IMI’s partners include Reporters Without Borders (RSF); the organization is also a member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX).