❗ “Right of reply” by a Russian representative during the interactive dialogue on the situation of human rights in Ukraine, UNHRC 55th Session:

📍 April 3, 2024, Geneva

❗️ We are compelled to use our “right to reply” in response to the statements made by representatives of the US, the UK, the EU, Germany, France and other European countries, whose cynicism is baffling. It is under their indulgence, and sometimes direct incitement, that Zelenskiy has completely destroyed opposition and independent media in Ukraine, orchestrated a literal hunt for civil activists and subjected the Russian-speaking population to severe repressions.

▪️ Journalists in Ukraine are especially at risk. They face harsh beatings, arrests, torture and assassinations. Notable examples of such brutalities include the murders of Olga Moroz, Oles Buzina and Pavel Sheremet. In 2022, Russian journalists Sergey Postnov, Oleg Klokov and Alexey Ilyashevich were killed by the Ukrainian military.

▪️ In July 2023, in the Zaporozhye region, a civilian car was shelled resulting in the death of correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev. In November of 2023, a Ukrainian drone struck a group of Russian journalists, killing Boris Maksudov. In August 2022, journalist Daria Dugina died in a car bomb attack, and in April 2023, journalist Vladlen Tatarskiy was assasinated by Ukrainian special services in a crowded café. Official Kiev openly boasts its involvement in these acts of terrorism.

▪️ Kiev's Western patrons deliberately turn a blind eye to all these crimes. Washington's total silence following the death of an American journalist Gonzalo Lira in Ukrainian prison is the pinnacle of cynicism.

📖 FULL STATEMENT