(MENAFN- UkrinForm) During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 63 journalists were killed in military operations or as a result of Russian shelling or torture. "Since February 24, 2022, 63 journalists have been killed in Ukraine participating in military operations or as a result of Russian shelling or torture. Fourteen of them were killed while performing journalistic duties, another nine journalists are among civilian casualties," Taras Shevchenko, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine for European Integration, said during the meeting of the Human Dimension Committee of the OSCE Permanent Council on the topic "Media Freedom", Ukrinform reports.
According to him, another 40 media workers were killed while serving in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine or law enforcement units, defending the independence of Ukraine with weapons in their hands.
"Since the beginning of the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, we, unfortunately, have witnessed massive violations of human rights, and especially violations of freedom of speech and the rights of journalists. Representatives of the media and Ukrainian information infrastructure are at gunpoint of the armed forces of the Russian Federation – the Russian military is shelling Ukrainian TV towers, conducting cyberattacks on Ukrainian websites, kidnapping, torturing and killing journalists," Shevchenko said.
He emphasized that the safety and protection of journalists had always been the basis of media freedom. And journalists currently working in Ukraine are not only authors of unique news reports, important investigations, or coverages.
"These are people who have profound knowledge in their field and work in extreme and dangerous situations. Together with the defenders of Ukraine, they ride in armored vehicles in full gear, fall into ambushes and come under fire in the front lines, risking their lives and health. All this in order to take unique photos that will not only tell Ukraine and the world the whole truth about the war but also become indisputable proof of the treachery of the occupiers and the feat of Ukrainian heroes," Shevchenko added.
Separately, he touched upon the situation with the rights of journalists in the temporarily occupied Crimea, noting that 15 journalists remain behind bars in the territory of the peninsula for politically motivated criminal cases. Three of them – Vilen Temeryanov, Ernes Ametov, and Iryna Danylovych – were imprisoned at the beginning of 2022.
In April 2022, citizen journalist Iryna Danylovych was kidnapped by Russian security forces and placed in the Simferopol pre-trial detention center. She was accused of "illegal possession of explosives".
In December 2022, the Feodosia Town Court sentenced her to seven years in prison and a fine of RUB 50,000 (EUR 650).
Also, the situation with non-provision of medical aid to Ukrainian political prisoners, in particular journalists, remains serious. In February of this year, two Crimean political prisoners died in prison due to lack of medical care.