Russia commits about 600 crimes against journalists in Ukraine since invasion

Russia has committed about 600 crimes against journalists and media in Ukraine since the launch of its full-scale invasion of the country.

The Ukrainian Ombudsman's Office announced this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and President of the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Media Corporation Stephen Capus discussed the release of Ukrainian journalists illegally detained by Russia.

During the full-scale invasion, Russia committed about 600 crimes against journalists and media in Ukraine, including illegal detentions and kidnappings of media representatives, according to the report.

One of those illegally convicted in Russia is Vladyslav Yesypenko, a Ukrainian RFE/RL journalist who was detained and convicted on a trumped-up case in temporarily occupied Crimea.

During the meeting, Lubinets and Capus discussed the release of Ukrainian journalists illegally detained by Russia and ways to put pressure on Russia through the international community.

Yesypenko was detained on March 10, 2021 after covering an event marking the 207th anniversary of the death of Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko in Simferopol on Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

The journalist was sentenced to six years in prison. An appeals court later reduced his prison term to five years. Yesypenko is serving his sentence in Kerch Colony No. 2.