The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has adopted a resolution calling for increased political, economic, and diplomatic pressure on Russia to ensure the release of illegally detained Ukrainian journalists.

The PACE decision was passed at the 1 October session in Strasbourg (France), according to the Institute of Mass Information representatives present.

The resolution is titled “Journalists matter: the need to step up efforts to liberate Ukrainian journalists held in captivity by the Russian Federation”. MP Yevhenia Kravchuk, deputy chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy and a member of Ukraine’s delegation to PACE, was the rapporteur.

The resolution draws on the Institute of Mass Information’s list of 26 journalists detained by Russia; IMI was also involved in drafting the resolution. Moreover, on 10 April 2025 IMI representatives took part in PACE Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media sessions, where they called for stepped up political and diplomatic pressure on Russia to achieve the release of Ukrainian journalists.

The document cites the release of the Ukrainian journalists Vladyslav Yesypenko, Dmytro Khyliuk, and Mark Kaliush as evidence of international pressure being effective.

The resolution also calls for support for the establishment of an international tribunal for the crime of aggression, cooperation with the International Criminal Court, etc.

PACE launched the “Viktory for Vicotria” Day in memory of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna. PACE will hold an annual commemoration during its autumn partsession, honouring war correspondents and journalists who risk (and often lose) their lives in the line of duty while defending the right to information in conflict zones.

PACE also hosted a special exhibition dedicated to the detained journalists, organised by the Verkhovna Rada Delegation to PACE, the Council of Europe, and the Institute of Mass Information.

The resolution summarised

The resolution acknowledges that the release and return to Ukraine of unlawfully detained journalists is can only be achieved through “exerting every available political, economic and diplomatic pressure on the Russian Federation.”

“This is an essential role that all member States of the Council of Europe can and must play. Moreover, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and international organisations of which the Russian Federation is a member, in particular the UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), can play an important role in this regard,” the document reads.

PACE states in the resolution that individuals responsible for crimes against journalists must be held accountable:

“The Assembly particularly abhors the fate of Victoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who was tortured and died in unspeakable circumstances after spending over a year in Russian custody.”

PACE stresses the necessity of providing reparations to victims of Russia’s crimes, particularly those affecting journalists and media infrastructure.

PACE calls on the International Criminal Court, or member States under the principle of universal jurisdiction, to prosecute and hold accountable the Russian Federation’s officials involved in the unlawful detention, torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance or killing of Ukrainian journalists and destruction of media infrastructure.

The Assembly urges member states and the European Union to:

  • reinforce their sanctions regime and impose individual sanctions against those responsible for crimes against journalists and media infrastructure (such as senior military and security officials of the Russian Federation and lower-ranking officials, including heads of detention facilities and guards involved in these violations);
  • support Ukrainian journalists and free media financially to help them survive in times of war and encourage the integration of journalists displaced externally into the operation of European media outlets and projects;
  • raise awareness of the plight of Ukrainian journalists, establish mentoring programmes for detainees and provide support by sending letters to their places of detention.

PACE calls on the Russian Federation to:

  • immediately cease all ongoing violations of international law concerning media personnel and media facilities;
  • release immediately all journalists detained in contravention of international law;
  • provide precise and updated information to international bodies and families on the location and health conditions of these detainees;
  • ensure unhindered access for the ICRC and/or other independent humanitarian organisations to all places of civilian detention in order to monitor the conditions of their detention and their state of health;
  • ensure unhindered access for the United Nations Monitoring Mission with regard to those prisoners held in detention in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

On 4 September 2025, the PACE culture and media committee passed a resolution calling for stepped up efforts to free Ukrainian journalists unlawfully detained by Russia.

On 2 October 2024 PACE passed the resolution “Missing persons, prisoners of war and civilians in captivity as a result of the war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”, which was the first resolution to contain a separate mention of detained journalists. IMI was involved in drafting the resolution in the part about detained media personnel.