28 Ukrainian journalists and media workers are still held captive by the Russian Federation

As of August 26, Russia is holding 28 Ukrainian journalists and media workers captive.

This was reported by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech.

"We call on the international community to continue pressure on Russia — because only publicity and persistent struggle bring closer the day when all Ukrainians will return home," the committee emphasized.

The day before, on August 24, the Institute of Mass Information wrote that in the three and a half years since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed 841 crimes against journalists and media in Ukraine.

• On Ukraineʼs Independence Day, August 24, 2025, two media workers returned from Russian captivity as part of an exchange: the UNIAN journalist Dmytro Khylyuk and administrator of several Melitopol news Telegram channels Mark Kaliush.
• Another Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna died in Russian captivity in October 2024. The international organization “Forbidden Stories” found out that the journalistʼs body was returned without some internal organs. Presumably, they wanted to hide the cause of her death. Later, the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office reported that they found numerous injuries on the journalistʼs body — bone fractures, hemorrhages in various parts of the body, a broken rib.

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