Moscow demands Kyiv release Russian reporters immediately, unconditionally

“We are deeply concerned about this situation, we follow its development and assume that the de facto Kyiv authorities should take steps to release reporters as quickly as possible and unconditionally. Those, who call themselves the authorities in Kyiv should respect Ukraine’s international obligations, including those taken in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) framework, to ensure freedom of speech and mass media. All these rights are violated very seriously and trampled in the case of the Russian reporters’ capture and are preventing work of journalists from other countries,” Russian Foreign Ministry Human Rights Ombudsman Konstantin Dolgov told Interfax.

All these rights are violated very seriously and trampled in the case of the Russian reporters’ capture and are preventing work of journalists from other countries,” Dolgov said.

“It is necessary to put an end to this tendency from the de facto Kyiv authorities. Baseless accusations regarding our reporters are made with no grounds and no proof. This situation is unacceptable. So we are working [to resolve the situation] on the level of foreign ministers,” he said.

Ukrainian special services probe work of Russian Lifenews journalists

Ukrainian law enforcement agencies will probe the activities of two journalists from the Russian television channel Lifenews who were detained in the Donetsk region on May 18, Victoria Syumar, deputy secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, said.

“The relevant law enforcement bodies are now in the process of drawing appropriate conclusions on [Lifenews journalists Oleg] Sidyakin and [Marat] Saichenko,” Syumar said on Facebook on Monday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry earlier demanded the release of the Russian journalists, who were detained by the Ukrainian military in the Donetsk region. The ministry also turned to the OSCE for assistance, Interfax reports.

Russian embassy in Kyiv demands release of Russian journalists

Oleg Sidyakin and Marat Saichenko, journalists from the Russian television channel LifeNews, who were detained in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, on May 18, should be released immediately, the press service for the Russian embassy in Kyiv said in a statement released on Monday, according to Interfax.

“Regular persecution by the Ukrainian law enforcement structures of journalists working for the Russia media on the territory of Ukraine are nothing else than an encroachment on freedom of speech,” the statement says.

Russian journalists systematically detained in Ukraine – Russian Embassy in Kyiv

Obstruction to professional activity of Russian journalists in Ukraine by military and law enforcement agencies became regular and countrywide, Itar-Tass reports. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies detained reporters of the Russian TV channel LifeNews Oleg Sidyakin and Marat Saichenko near the city of Kramatorsk in southeast Ukraine’s Donetsk region on May 18 and taken them in the unknown direction, the press service of the Russian Embassy in Kyiv said on Monday.

“This is not the first case of Russian journalists being detained by the Ukrainian law enforcers,” the press service noted, adding that “On April 16, representatives of Ukrainian armed forces detained a crew of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK).”

“Information about cases of obstructing professional activity of Russian journalists by Ukrainian military and law enforcement agencies is coming from different settlements of the country.”

Such Ukrainian actions “run counter to international law provisions that regulate work of representatives of media outlets in a foreign country, saying nothing about numerous Ukrainian pledges that they impose no restrictions on activity of foreign journalists in the country,” the press service said.

The Russian Embassy insists on an immediate end to such actions. “Arbitrariness and repressions against journalists and media actually an encroachment on the freedom of speech which is one of most fundamental freedoms in the modern world,” the press service said, adding that “Oleg Sidyakin and Marat Saichenko should be released immediately.”

Lavrov urges OSCE to assist in release of Russian journalists detained by Ukrainian military

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has asked OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter over the phone to urgently use every OSCE tool for the immediate liberation of Russian journalists detained by the Ukrainian authorities in the Donetsk region. The OSCE chairperson-in-office assured Lavrov that he would rapidly do so, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry made similar demarches in the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna and the Kyiv headquarters of the OSCE mission in Ukraine, Interfax reports.

The Russian Foreign Ministry will continue to insist on the soonest resolution of the Russian journalists’ situation.

Journalists of Russian television station LifeNews were detained by Ukrainian military servicemen in Kramatorsk in the evening of May 18.

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