The Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) is closely monitoring all cases of Ukrainian journalists detained by Russia and reminds OSCE participating States of their commitment to immediately and unconditionally release all journalists who have been arbitrarily detained or taken hostage.
This was reported by the Office of the RFoM in response to a request from a Ukrinform correspondent.
“The Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) is following the cases of Ukrainian civilians working in journalism, who are currently in Russian detention. Although the background of all cases varies, they are deeply worrying and warrant attention,” the Office stated.
The RFoM recalled that, within its mandate, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media regularly calls on OSCE participating States to fully implement their commitments in the field of media freedom, in particular the 2018 OSCE Ministerial Council decision on the safety of journalists, which “urges the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists who have been arbitrarily arrested or detained, taken hostage or who have become victims of enforced disappearance”.
“On several occasions, RFoM has also stressed that under International Humanitarian Law, journalists have civilian status, and they must be afforded protection as such. Journalists and other media professionals deprived of their liberty are also protected by International Humanitarian Law and by international human rights law, and, therefore, they must be treated humanely at all times,” the Office stressed.
At the same time, the RFoM did not directly answer the question of whether it was involved in the case of UNIAN journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, who was captured by Russian troops in early March 2022 during the occupation of the village of Kozarovychi in the Kyiv region.
According to the Institute of Mass Information, Russia is illegally holding at least 30 Ukrainian civilian media workers.
Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist with the UNIAN news agency, was abducted by Russian military personnel on March 3, 2022, in his native village of Kozarovychi, Kyiv region, which was occupied at the time.
For a long time, there was no information about his fate, and Russia did not acknowledge the fact of his captivity.
In March this year, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets reported that the ICRC had confirmed that Dmytro Khyliuk was being held captive in Russia.
In the summer of this year, a soldier who had been held captive by Russia for a year and shared a cell with Khyliuk in a colony in the Vladimir region of Russia said that the journalist weighed no more than 45 kilograms.
Another Ukrainian soldier recently released from Russian captivity said that he last saw Khyliuk in early May 2025.
Source: OSCE calls for immediate release of Ukrainian journalists detained by Russia
