26 Ukrainian Journalists Still Held by Russia in 2025

In 2025, at least 26 Ukrainian journalists remain imprisoned by Russian authorities, some tortured, others killed, highlighting the ongoing dangers for reporters covering Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Detentions and deaths

Russia holds one of the world’s largest populations of jailed journalists. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 48 journalists were imprisoned in Russia in 2025, 26 of them Ukrainian. Many face charges such as “espionage” or “extremism,” which human rights organizations say are fabricated.

The detainees include professional reporters such as Vladyslav Yesypenko, Dmytro Khyliuk, Mark Kaliush, and citizen journalists like Iryna Danylovych, Oleksiy Bessarabov, Dmytro Shtyblikov, and Seyran Saliyev. Some were captured as far back as 2016 and 2017.

More recent detentions include journalists and Telegram channel administrators from occupied Melitopol and Zaporizhzhia, such as Iryna Levchenko, Oleksandr Malyshev, Heorhiy Levchenko, and Yana Suvorova, who were kidnapped in 2023 while reporting under occupation.

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While some were also combatants, according to the Institute of Mass Information, 120 Ukrainian journalists have died since the start of Russia’s full-scale war. Among them is Viktoriia Roshchyna, a 27-year-old investigative journalist who disappeared in August 2023 while reporting from a Russian-occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region.

In February of this year, Roshchyna’s body was returned from Russian custody showing signs of torture, including neck bruising likely from strangulation, burns possibly caused by electric shocks, and broken bones. Some of these cases, including Roshchyna’s, were highlighted in the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine documentary “Free the Voices: Stories of Ukrainian Journalists Captured by Russia,” which premiered in Kyiv in October.

Releases in 2025

Some journalists were freed this year. Vladyslav Yesypenko, a Radio Liberty journalist who was detained in Russian-controlled Crimea for over four years, was released in June. Dmytro Khyliuk, a UNIAN journalist, was returned to Ukraine in August after more than three years in captivity.

International pressure

International bodies continue to call for the release of detained Ukrainian journalists.

On Oct. 1, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe urged Russia to allow independent inspections and stop abuses, including torture and incommunicado detention. European lawmakers have also sanctioned officials responsible for mistreatment or deaths in custody, including those linked to Roshchyna’s death.