Verkhovna Rada passes resolution calling for more international pressure on Russia over systematic targeting of journalists

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed a resolution approving an address to the UN, EU, and NATO institutions, parliamentary assemblies and leading international journalistic organisations calling for increased political and diplomatic pressure, and sanctions on Russia due to its systematic crimes against journalists and media workers. The resolution was initiated by Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, Chair of the parliamentary Freedom of Speech Committee. 247 MPs voted in favor of the resolution, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn tells the Institute of Mass Information.

The address calls for an expansion of targeted sanctions against individuals involved in the persecution, torture and murder of journalists, additional sanctions against Russia and states cooperating with it, restriction of access to international platforms for the Russian state-affiliated media, and more enforcement of compliance with international information security standards. The parliament also calls for intensified international and national efforts to release all journalists illegally detained by Russia and to facilitate the documentation and investigation of these crimes, including with the support of the International Criminal Court and international investigators.

The explanatory note and the address emphasise that, according to the Institute of Mass Information, Russia has committed 858 crimes against journalists and media workers in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion: 118 journalists have died (15 killed while reporting; 103 died as combatants, shelling strike casualties, or torture victims) and at least 27 remain imprisoned by Russia. The address stresses that protecting journalists is a moral and legal imperative and a key condition of society’s right to truthful information in wartime.

The resolution also entrusts the Verkhovna Rada Chair with sending the address immediately: to the UN, the EU and NATO, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, as well as the IFJ, EFJ, CPJ, and RSF. The document enters into force on the day of its adoption.

The address states:

“The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appeals to the United Nations, parliaments and governments of the European Union and NATO member states, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the International Federation of Journalists, the European Federation of Journalists, the international NGO ‘Committee to Protect Journalists’, the international NGO ‘Reporters Without Borders’ and calls for:

• continued increase of political, diplomatic pressure and sanctions on Russia in connection with the numerous crimes against journalists and media workers, such as:
  • expanding targeted sanctions against individuals involved in the persecution, torture, and murder of journalists;
  • introducing additional sanctions against the Russian Federation and states that cooperate with it and support its terrorist regime;
  • restricting access of Russian state-affiliated media to international platforms;
  • intensifying the enforcement of compliance with international information security standards;
• mobilisation of the international and national efforts to ensure the release and return to Ukraine of all journalists and media workers unlawfully detained by Russia;
• facilitation of the efforts to document and investigate crimes committed by Russia against journalists and media workers, including through support for the work of the International Criminal Court, international investigative bodies, and initiatives to document war crimes;
• strengthening of international mechanisms to hold accountable those responsible for the persecution of journalists and the dismantling of independent media, as part of efforts to ensure justice for all victims of Russian aggression;
• increase in efforts to ensure accountability for all persons complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity on the territory of Ukraine, in particular against journalists and media workers.
• more international support for Ukrainian media, journalist associations, journalist protection programs, as well as initiatives aimed at restoring freedom of speech in the de-occupied territories;
• issuing statements in support of Ukraine’s efforts to increase pressure on Russia to end impunity for crimes against journalists and media workers.”

The Institute of Mass Information has been releasing the monthly “Freedom of Speech Barometer”, a monitoring study of violations of the rights of journalists and media in Ukraine, since 2014. The project documents physical aggression against media workers, obstruction of reporting, censorship, pressure, restrictions on access to information, and cyberattacks. After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the “Barometer” also became a tool for tracking war crimes committed by Russians against journalists and media outlets. The statistics regularly released by IMI show that most of freedom of speech violations in Ukraine in wartime were committed by Russian forces. These include shelling strikes on media offices, destruction of media infrastructure, kidnapping of journalists, torture, death threats, and forced eviction of media outlets from occupied territories. IMI also tracks deaths of journalists who were killed in Russian strikes or while reporting. Separately, IMI analyses Russia’s propaganda efforts, psy-ops, and pressure on Ukrainian media through disinformation and attempts to influence editorial policies. These data are used by human rights organizations and international institutions as evidence of systematic violations.