The Union of Journalists of Russia has been expelled from the International Federation of Journalists. The decision was made during the 32nd IFJ Congress in Paris.
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine writes about this.
As former IFJ President Jim Bumela noted, the decision was the culmination of a process that had been ongoing since the beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to him, the membership of the Russian organization actually remained frozen after the decision of the IFJ Executive Committee in 2023. At the same time, the Russian side did not take advantage of the opportunity to make a full appeal and only sent a letter with general explanations.
Ukrainian journalists began the campaign to exclude the SJR on February 28, 2022. Later, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine filed an official protest to the leadership of the IFJ.
One of the main arguments was the creation by the Union of Journalists of Russia of its branches in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine — in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson regions, and Zaporizhzhia region.
- According to Reporters Without Borders, Russia is holding 26 Ukrainian journalists, the highest number of foreign journalists in the world.
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