IMI media expert: Russia deliberately targets journalists to cover up the crimes

The Russians had pre-made lists of Ukrainian journalists and were purposefully detaining and kidnapping them. This was done to destroy evidence of Russia's crimes and prevent the media from reporting on these crimes to the world, said Kateryna Dyachuk, head of the Freedom of Speech Monitoring Department at the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), during the presentation of the memorial report to the victims of Russia's aggression (2022–2024) organized by the ZMINA Human Rights Center on December 27 in Kyiv.

At least 30 civilian Ukrainian journalists and two journalists turned combatants are currently in Russian custody, according to the IMI.

“I also wanted to mention the detained journalists. We know that the Russians had lists of media workers going in. They knew who to target. The groups they needed to simply filter out, destroy, or collaborate with. According to our data, 30 media workers are in Russian custody today. We are also in talks with law enforcement authorities on this topic, and we will set up task forces working on this,” added Kateryna Dyachuk.

She also explained that Russia is deliberately persecuting journalists in order to hide its crimes, which is why Ukrainian media workers such as UNIAN journalist Dmytro Khyliuk or journalist Iryna Levchenko remain in Russian custody to this day.

“We know that the Russians have been detaining and kidnapping certain people knowing that they were journalists. I want to mention Iryna Levchenko from occupied Melitopol, Zaporizhia oblast. Even though she had retired, the Russians knew that she used to be a journalist. They are doing everything to destroy evidence of their criminal activities so that the media cannot report these crimes to the world or to Ukrainians — everything is being erased,” said Kateryna Dyachuk.

She added that the IMI is synchronizing the lists of journalists killed by Russia with the Prosecutor General’s Office to improve advocacy, investigations, and achieving justice for Russia's crimes against the media.