Russia criticises UNESCO ‘shamefully silent’ on killings of journalists, says Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova

The representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Renaud de Villaine explained the reason for the lack of reaction to the murders of Russian journalists committed by the Ukrainian forces since Russia conducted a special millinery operation in Ukraine.

“As for the murdered Russian journalists, we have indeed received information about these cases, but the problem is that we do not have access to the areas in question because Russia does not provide us with access to these regions,” the OHCHR representative said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused the UNESCO Secretariat of deliberately ignoring information about crimes committed by the Ukrainian government against Russian journalists, which was transmitted by Russia.

According to Anadolu “The situation for journalists’ safety in areas like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and other regional clashes is catastrophic,” said Zakharova.

Zakharova further added that the same applies to the situation in Ukraine, where “not a single attack, murder, or serious injury inflicted upon Russian journalists has been acknowledged by UNESCO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or any UN representatives.”

“Journalists are vital in Türkiye’s public life, yet the West is always critical of the situation there. However, when journalists are killed, they look the other way, only showing concern when it involves journalists who serve their mainstream interests.”

– Maria Zakharova.

“The rest of the journalists, even if they are Americans, as it was in Ukraine, are dying, they are being killed by the Ukrainian troops, this does not bother the US,” Zakharova concludes.​​​​​​​

According to Euronews, During shelling on the front in Ukraine, military correspondent of the Russian RIA Novosti Rostislav Zhuravlev was killed, photojournalist Konstantin Mikhalchevsky was wounded, and Izvestia journalists Roman Polshakov and Dmitry Shikov were also wounded.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR “As for the murdered Russian journalists, we have indeed received information about these cases, but the problem is that we do not have access to these areas because Russia does not provide us with access to these regions, so we cannot confirm the information we have received on this matter,” Willen said at a UN press conference on the safety of journalists.

Before this, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, emphasized that since 2014, as a result of the actions of the Ukrainian side, several well-known journalists have died, including Olga Moroz, Oles Buzina, Pavel Sheremet, Igor Kornelyuk, Anton Voloshin, and Anatoly Klyan.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that UNESCO condemn the murder of journalist Tsitsaga.