Demand the release of Ukrainian journalists in Russian captivity: World Press Freedom Day 2026
Image Credit: Abaca Press/ Alamy
“Journalists play a key role in providing the public with accurate and timely information, documenting events, and bearing witness where others cannot. When they are silenced, families are left waiting, stories remain untold, and truth itself is pushed into darkness. Behind every detained journalist is a person who chose courage over silence, and a community that now lives with their absence.” Burhan Sonmez, PEN International President
3 May 2026: At least 26 Ukrainian journalists are currently being detained by the Russian authorities in conditions that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. As the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine rages on, the international community must step up efforts to secure the immediate and unconditional release of all detained Ukrainian journalists and hold perpetrators to account.
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Advocacy
Please contact your country’s Head of Government/Minister of Foreign Affairs, urging them to:
Use all leverage to secure the immediate and unconditional release of all Ukrainian journalists unlawfully detained by the Russian authorities and ensure their safe return to the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian authorities.
Demand unfettered access for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine to places of detention in the Russian Federation and in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
Hold accountable officials of the Russian Federation involved in the unlawful detention, torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance or killing of Ukrainian journalists and destruction of media infrastructure.
Provide financial support to Ukrainian journalists and media and help rebuild critical media infrastructure destroyed by Russian forces across Ukraine.
Social Media
Spread the word about Ukrainian journalists held in Russian captivity. Use the hashtags #WorldPressFreedomDay, #WPFD2026 and #FreeUkrainianJournalists, tagging @peninternational (Instagram), facebook.com/peninternational (Facebook) and @peninternational.bsky.social (Bluesky).
Bluesky
#WorldPressFreedomDay: Imagine being imprisoned for doing your job. At least 26 Ukrainian journalists remain in Russian captivity. They must be released immediately and unconditionally. Stand with them today. #WPFD2026 #FreeUkrainianJournalists
Facebook/Instagram
#WorldPressFreedomDay: Imagine being imprisoned simply for doing your job. At least 26 Ukrainian journalists remain in Russian captivity and must be released immediately and unconditionally. Their detention is an attack on press freedom, truth, and our collective right to know. Stand in solidarity with them today and demand their release. Every voice matters. #WPFD2026 #FreeUkrainianJournalists
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The Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues to bring suffering to millions of people, with Russian forces committing war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law. As documented by the Council of Europe’s Safety of Journalists Platform, of which PEN International is a partner, at least 26 Ukrainian journalists remain in captivity in the Russian Federation and in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. Many are Crimean Tatars and serving lengthy prison sentences on trumped up grounds, including ‘terrorism’, ‘treason’ or ‘sabotage’.
In August 2025, the Ukrainian authorities freed journalists Dmytro Khyliuk and Mark Kaliush from Russian captivity as part of a prisoner exchange. Vladyslav Yesypenko, recipient of the 2022 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, was released in June 2025 after completing his sentence. All three testified about the inhumane treatment of Ukrainian detainees in Russian detention facilities, where authorities systematically subject them to torture, prolonged incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance and other inhumane treatment, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. A culture of impunity emboldens perpetrators.
Journalists in Ukraine continue to operate under immense pressure, facing severe threats to their safety as Russian drone strikes intensify. Since 24 February 2022, at least 22 journalists and media workers have been killed by Russian forces in Ukraine while carrying out their professional duties. PEN International joins PEN Ukraine in urging full justice and accountability for journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, who reportedly died in Russian custody on 19 September 2024. In April 2025, the Viktoriia Project revealed that Roshchyna had been repeatedly subjected to torture. Her body, which was eventually repatriated to Ukraine, had several organs missing, possibly to hide the cause of death. A war crimes investigation is ongoing.
Russian strikes have caused extensive damage to telecommunications infrastructure and newsroom premises, further hindering independent reporting from war zones. In January 2025, the USA administration’s move to freeze all foreign aid contracts through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which had sustained about nine out of ten media outlets in Ukraine, severely impacted regional newsrooms, as well as investigative journalism projects. These cuts further undermined safety, leaving journalists, especially on the frontlines, without essential protections or emergency support.
As stressed in a landmark resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in October 2025, urgent measures are required to ensure the safety of journalists and support free media in Ukraine – and beyond.
For more information, see PEN International’s essay by Volodymyr Yermolenko and our Day of the Imprisoned Writer campaigns featuring Iryna Danylovych and Server Mustafayev, as well as PEN Ukraine’s website.
*Name, place and date of arrest*
Oleksiy Bessarabov, Sevastopol, Russian-occupied Crimea, 9 November 2016
Dmytro Shtyblikov, Sevastopol, Russian-occupied Crimea, 9 November 2016
Ernes Ametov, Bakhchysarai, Russian-occupied Crimea, 11 October 2017
Marlen Asanov, Bakhchysarai, Russian-occupied Crimea, 11 October 2017
Tymur Ibrahimov, Bakhchysarai, Russian-occupied Crimea, 11 October 2017
Seyran Saliev, Bakhchysarai, Russian-occupied Crimea, 11 October 2017
Server Mustafayev, Bakhchysarai, Russian-occupied Crimea, 21 May 2018
Rustem Sheikhaliev, Simferopol, Russian-occupied Crimea, 27 March 2019
Ruslan Suleimanov, Simferopol, Russian-occupied Crimea, 27 March 2019
Osman Arifmemetov, Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation, 28 March 2019
Remzi Bekirov, Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation, 28 March 2019
Amet Suleymanov, Bakhchysarai, Russian-occupied Crimea, 11 March 2020
Asan Akhtemov, Simferopol, Russian-occupied Crimea, 4 September 2021
Iryna Danylovych, Koktebel, Russian-occupied Crimea, 29 April 2022
Yevheniy Ilchenko, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, 10 July 2022
Vilen Temerianov, Vilne, Russian-occupied Crimea, 11 August 2022
Iryna Levchenko, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, 6 May 2023
Vladyslav Hershon, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, 20 August 2023
Anastasia Hlukhovska, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, 20 August 2023
Heorhiy Levchenko, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, 20 August 2023
Oleksandr Malyshev, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, 20 August 2023
Maksym Rupchov, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, 20 August 2023
Yana Suvorova, Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, 20 August 2023
Aziz Azizov, Bakhchysarai, Russian-occupied Crimea, 5 March 2024
Rustem Osmanov, Bakhchysarai, Russian-occupied Crimea, 5 March 2024
Hennadiy Osmak, Henichesk, Kherson region, 11 March 2024
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Thank you for supporting our World Press Freedom Day 2026 campaign. Please amplify on social media.
Note to editors:
For further details contact Aurélia Dondo, Head of Europe and Central Asia Region at PEN International: [email protected]
For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, Communications and Campaigns Manager at PEN International: [email protected]