The Russian Federation is keeping at least 25 Ukrainian journalists prisoner.

The relevant statement was made by President of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) Sergiy Tomilenko during a press conference in Ukrinform.

“At least 25 journalists are remaining in [Russian] captivity. We are also referring to the confinement of the Crimean Tatar citizen journalists in detention facilities as captivity. For example, Vladyslav Yesypenko and Iryna Danylovych, who had been unlawfully detained by Russian occupation authorities in Crimea and are now held in prison,” Tomilenko told.

In his words, this also refers to the journalists who had been detained in the temporarily occupied areas since the Russian full-scale invasion started.

Speaking of the recent cases involving the mass media professionals, Tomilenko mentioned Viktoriia Roshchyna who had gone to the temporarily occupied area while performing her professional duties. Contact with her was lost several months ago.

Russians are also keeping prisoner Iryna Levchenko who used to cover the news in the Zaporizhzhia region’s Melitopol.

In addition, Tomilenko recalled Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist from UNIAN news agency, who had been taken prisoner by Russians as they attempted to seize the city of Kyiv and the Kyiv region. At the moment, he is held in prison in Russia.

About 90% of Ukrainian prisoners of war faced torture, rape, sexual violence threats, and other forms of inhumane treatment in Russian captivity.