Ukrainian
Journalists Missing after Russian Detention
Keep the truth and information away from the people by arresting and detaining journalists – in this case Ukrainian news reporters.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said last week that it is pressing russian authorities to confirm the whereabouts of Ukrainian journalists Heorhiy Levchenko and Anatasiya Hlukhovska, and drop all charges against them.
Levchenko and Hlukhovska’s detention was not made public until late October 2023, when Vesti Nedeli, a program of russian state-owned TV channel Rossiya 1, and russian defense ministry-affiliated TV channel Zvezda, showed videos of their arrests. Hlukhovksa’s relatives did not give CPJ permission to publish her story until April 17, 2024.
On August 20, 2023, officers with the russian federal security service (FSB) in the southeast region of Zaporizhzhia detained Levchenko, according to local news website RIA-Melitopol—which covers news in Melitopol, a city in Zaporizhzhia that has been under russian control since March 2022— and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) trade group. Hlukhovska was detained on the same day by individuals in military garb and balaclavas, according to the Zvezda video and Hlukhovska’s sister, Diana, who spoke to CPJ.
The current location of the journalists is unknown.
“Journalists Heorhiy Levchenko and Anatasiya Hlukhovksa have been held incommunicado by russian occupying forces in Ukraine for almost eight months, simply for being journalists,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “russian authorities must immediately release them, drop all charges against them, and stop their illegal prosecution of Ukrainian nationals in occupied territories.”
Melitopol journalist Svitlana Zalizetska told CPJ that Levchenko, the administrator of the Telegram channel associated with RIA-Melitopol, was suspected of terrorism, under Article 205, Part 2 of the russian criminal code. “They’re making a terrorist out of a journalist,” Zalizetska said. If found guilty under this charge, Levchenko faces up to 20 years in jail.
In the Zvezda video showing Hlukhovska’s detention, individuals in military garb and balaclavas are seen searching her apartment, looking at her laptop, handcuffing her, taking her out of the house, and putting her in a car.
Hlukhovska’s name is not featured in the video and there is no information about the charges she faces and the reason for her detention, her sister Diana told CPJ. “There is no official statement that she was kidnapped, only the video.”
“From the first day and until today, we sent requests to everyone, but we did not receive any answers,” Diana told CPJ, adding that the family had reached out to the FSB and vladimir putin. “She is considered as a missing person.”
Hlukhovska was working as a reporter with RIA-Melitopol before russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, her sister Diana told CPJ. As soon as the occupation started, Hlukhovska resigned, as she understood “from the very beginning” the risks her work entailed, Diana said.
CPJ’s email to the FSB requesting comment on both detentions received no response.
Many Ukrainian journalists have been detained in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. The whereabouts of former journalist Iryna Levchenko, missing since early May 2023, and of journalists Dmytro Khilyuk, detained in early March 2022, and Viktoria Roshchina, detained in early August 2023, are still unknown. russia was the world’s fourth-worst jailer of journalists in CPJ’s 2023 prison census, with at least 22 journalists behind bars as of December 1. Hlukhovska and Levchenko were not included in the census due to the lack of publicly available information on their detention at the time, and due to a request by Hlukhovska’s family not to publish her story.
Keep the truth and information away from the people by arresting and detaining journalists – in this case Ukrainian news reporters.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said last week that it is pressing russian authorities to confirm the whereabouts of Ukrainian journalists Heorhiy Levchenko and Anatasiya Hlukhovska, and drop all charges against them.
Levchenko and Hlukhovska’s detention was not made public until late October 2023, when Vesti Nedeli, a program of russian state-owned TV channel Rossiya 1, and russian defense ministry-affiliated TV channel Zvezda, showed videos of their arrests. Hlukhovksa’s relatives did not give CPJ permission to publish her story until April 17, 2024.
On August 20, 2023, officers with the russian federal security service (FSB) in the southeast region of Zaporizhzhia detained Levchenko, according to local news website RIA-Melitopol—which covers news in Melitopol, a city in Zaporizhzhia that has been under russian control since March 2022— and the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) trade group. Hlukhovska was detained on the same day by individuals in military garb and balaclavas, according to the Zvezda video and Hlukhovska’s sister, Diana, who spoke to CPJ.
The current location of the journalists is unknown.
“Journalists Heorhiy Levchenko and Anatasiya Hlukhovksa have been held incommunicado by russian occupying forces in Ukraine for almost eight months, simply for being journalists,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “russian authorities must immediately release them, drop all charges against them, and stop their illegal prosecution of Ukrainian nationals in occupied territories.”
Melitopol journalist Svitlana Zalizetska told CPJ that Levchenko, the administrator of the Telegram channel associated with RIA-Melitopol, was suspected of terrorism, under Article 205, Part 2 of the russian criminal code. “They’re making a terrorist out of a journalist,” Zalizetska said. If found guilty under this charge, Levchenko faces up to 20 years in jail.
In the Zvezda video showing Hlukhovska’s detention, individuals in military garb and balaclavas are seen searching her apartment, looking at her laptop, handcuffing her, taking her out of the house, and putting her in a car.
Hlukhovska’s name is not featured in the video and there is no information about the charges she faces and the reason for her detention, her sister Diana told CPJ. “There is no official statement that she was kidnapped, only the video.”
“From the first day and until today, we sent requests to everyone, but we did not receive any answers,” Diana told CPJ, adding that the family had reached out to the FSB and vladimir putin. “She is considered as a missing person.”
Hlukhovska was working as a reporter with RIA-Melitopol before russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, her sister Diana told CPJ. As soon as the occupation started, Hlukhovska resigned, as she understood “from the very beginning” the risks her work entailed, Diana said.
CPJ’s email to the FSB requesting comment on both detentions received no response.
Many Ukrainian journalists have been detained in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. The whereabouts of former journalist Iryna Levchenko, missing since early May 2023, and of journalists Dmytro Khilyuk, detained in early March 2022, and Viktoria Roshchina, detained in early August 2023, are still unknown. russia was the world’s fourth-worst jailer of journalists in CPJ’s 2023 prison census, with at least 22 journalists behind bars as of December 1. Hlukhovska and Levchenko were not included in the census due to the lack of publicly available information on their detention at the time, and due to a request by Hlukhovska’s family not to publish her story.
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