“Still exposed to violence”: the Russian Foreign Ministry called for a tougher response to pressure from Kiev on journalists

The Russian Foreign Ministry called on relevant international structures and human rights non-governmental organizations to respond more stringently to cases of pressure on media representatives in Ukraine. The agency issued a statement on November 2, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The Foreign Ministry expressed serious concern about the security situation of media workers in Ukraine, noting that physical violence is still being used against them.

“They are still subjected to physical violence, including shelling of Russian correspondents in the south-east of the country by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a regular basis,” the department said.

Recall that in recent months there have been several similar cases. The crew of the VGTRK war correspondent Alexander Sladkov came under fire in August 2018. On October 6, 2019, REN TV and Izvestia journalists found themselves in a similar situation in the area of ​​the village of Kominternovo. In July, the same film crew of the Russian TV channel Zvezda was shelled there.

“We urge relevant international organizations and human rights NGOs to respond more harshly and decisively to condemn all forms of pressure from the Ukrainian authorities on the media, including the elimination of journalists who are objectionable to the Kiev authorities,” the department said.

Political analyst Ivan Mezyuho, in a conversation with RT, doubted that the appeal of the Russian Foreign Ministry would be heard by the Western public. He said that both Europe and the United States are well aware of the violation of the rights of journalists in Ukraine and of the forms of pressure that the previous Ukrainian authorities applied to correspondents.

“After the coup in 2014, Ukraine received a new information space saturated with Russophobic anti-Russian rhetoric ... International human rights structures have little reaction to the facts of violation of the rights of Ukrainian journalists. In fact, there is a violation of the constitutional right of citizens of Ukraine to freedom of speech, ”the political scientist added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry in its statement also noted that there is still no progress in the investigation of the murders of journalists Anton Voloshin, Igor Kornelyuk, Andrey Stenin, Oles Buzin, Pavel Sheremet and many others who died in Ukraine.

Recall that VGTRK journalists Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin died as a result of mortar shelling while working near Lugansk on June 17, 2014. The murder of journalists was strongly condemned by the UN and other human rights organizations.

In the murder case, the Russian court sentenced Nadezhda Savchenko to 22 years in prison, which, as the investigation established, corrected artillery fire. In May 2016, Savchenko was pardoned by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the request of family members Kornelyuk and Voloshin.

Another journalist who died during the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine was RIA Novosti photojournalist Andrei Stenin. The journalist came under fire from the Ukrainian security forces in the city of Snezhnoye in the Donbass on August 6, 2014.

As RIA Novosti reported, the Investigative Committee opened a murder case and repeatedly sent a request for legal assistance to the competent authorities of Ukraine, but in response received only formal replies.

“It is obvious that the Ukrainian side has detailed information about this incident. However, to all requests for legal assistance sent by the Investigative Committee to the competent authorities of Ukraine with a request to provide information about the military personnel who may be involved in this crime, only formal answers were received, ”said the official representative of the IC Svetlana Petrenko in August 2018.

In turn, political analyst Alexander Asafov, commenting on the progress of the investigation on Sputnik radio, said that the Kiev authorities would deny the involvement of their security forces in the tragedy even if there was evidence. He expressed the view that it would be very difficult to complete the investigation.

In addition, Ukrainian investigators have not yet completed an investigation into the murder of journalist Pavel Sheremet, who died in Kiev on July 20, 2016 as a result of the explosion of his car. Sheremet worked on Channel One, in recent years he lived and worked in Ukraine. According to RIA Novosti, the investigation considers the main version of the murder of the journalist to be revenge for professional activities. In 2017, the National Police of Ukraine classified all court decisions in the Sheremet murder case.

In Kiev, the famous writer and journalist Oles Buzin was also killed. On April 16, 2015, an unidentified man shot Buzina near his house in the city center. At the same time, many are convinced that the murder was political in nature - the journalist openly criticized the country's leadership, who came to power after the Euromaidan. The lawyer of Buzina’s mother, Renat Kuzmin, said that the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine could be involved in the death of a journalist.

Political scientist, expert of the Council on Interethnic Relations under the President of Russia, Bogdan Bezpalko, in a conversation with RT, noted that the Ukrainian authorities did not hide the facts of the persecution of journalists, because they are confident that Western countries will not take any action.

“The fact is that the European community treats Ukraine on the principle of double standards, condemning verbal phenomena, but not taking any action to put pressure on Ukrainian political elites. In Ukraine, really persecuting journalists. We saw this on the example of Kirill Vyshinsky, and on the examples of Ukrainian journalists this is more than clearly visible. Now they have taken away the licenses from the TV channels 112, NEWSONE, and pressure is still exerted on a number of opposition journalists, ”he said.

Recall that the channel “112 Ukraine” was bombarded by a grenade launcher in July 2019 after it announced the screening of the film “In the Struggle for Ukraine” about the conflict in Donbass by Olive Stone. The channel’s employees said that the media began to receive threats. As a result, the channel decided to cancel the show. After the shelling, the police opened a case about the attack, but could not find the attackers.

Bogdan Bezpalko explained that in order to achieve transparency of investigations, it is necessary to use international structures as platforms on which the world community will regularly raise the issue of violation of freedom of speech in Ukraine.

“We have now been invited back to work in PACE, it can be in the framework of cooperation with the OSCE, it can be such large organizations as the UN. In the end, we can join forces even with non-governmental organizations, ”concluded the political scientist.