OSCE Summit in Malta: member states must call for the release of the 38 journalists detained by Russia
Sergey Lavrov, Russia's Foreign Minister, is set to attend the ministerial summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Malta. Russia is the world’s fifth largest jailer of journalists, holding 38 journalists behind bars — including 19 Ukrainians arrested in illegally occupied territories — and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges all OSCE Member States to demand their unconditional release.
Arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, and the deaths of detainees in custody are nothing out of the ordinary for Russia, the fifth largest jailer of journalists. Russia currently holds 38 reporters — 19 Russians and 19 Ukrainians — in prison for doing their jobs and refusing to spread Kremlin propaganda. Despite this, Sergey Lavrov is expected in Malta on 5 and 6 December for the OSCE Ministerial Council, marking his first visit to the European Union (EU) since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
"Even though President Vladimir Putin has been under an ICC arrest warrant since March 2023 and 37 Ukrainian and Russian journalists languishing in Russian prisons and one is under house arrest, Russia is being officially welcomed at an OSCE meeting in Malta. Some journalists have disappeared, others are held in undisclosed locations, and a Ukrainian journalist has died in Russian custody. This cannot be 'business as usual.' The Kremlin must be held accountable. OSCE Member States must demand Sergey Lavrov give answers on these detentions and act for the immediate release of these journalists.
Ukrainian journalists targeted
Among the 38 journalists currently detained by Russia, 19 are Ukrainians who refused to collaborate with Russian authorities. Often arrested on trumped-up charges of "terrorism" or "espionage", they face sentences of up to 20 years in prison, with nine already convicted by Russian courts.
Russia deliberately isolates these journalists, keeping them in inhumane and degrading conditions, sometimes thousands of kilometres from Ukraine. The Kremlin continue to withhold information about the location and conditions of seven Ukrainian journalists arrested after 24 February 2022: Dmytro Khyliuk, Yana Suvorova, Heorhiy Levchenko, Vladyslav Hershon, Anastasia Hlukhovska, Yevheniy Ilchenko, and Zhanna Kyselova.
The detention of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna by Russian authorities ended with her death in custody on 19 September 2024, according to an official letter from the Russian Defence Ministry received by her family. She had disappeared while travelling to Rusian-occupied territories in Ukraine for her reporting in August 2023.
Hiding War Crimes
At least 19 Russian journalists are currently behind bars, either sentenced or awaiting trial. Many face prolonged pre-trial detention, endure degrading treatment, and lack proper access to medical care.
The Kremlin uses its legal arsenal to conceal crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. Several journalists have been imprisoned for publishing so-called "false information" about the Russian military. Among them are Maria Ponomarenko and Sergei Mikhailov, who were convicted for reporting in 2022 on the Mariupol bombings and Russian atrocities in Bucha, north of Kyiv.
RSF's demands
As Russia participates in this meeting in Malta, RSF calls on OSCE Member States, especially the members of the OSCE Group of Friends on the Safety of Journalists, to:
- Advocate, through all possible means, for the release of journalists and media workers detained or imprisoned in Russia and in occupied Ukrainian territories;
- Urge Russian authorities to provide precise and updated information to international bodies and families on the location and health conditions of these prisoners;
- Demand that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) be allowed access to detention sites housing journalists or media workers, both in Russia and in the territories under its illegal control.
