To date, 26 representatives of the Ukrainian media are known to be in captivity of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech Yaroslav Yurchyshyn (Holos faction) said.

"I have held a working meeting with Reporters Without Borders. We talked online, because the matter is very urgent. The key topic is the release of captured journalists. So far, it is known about 26 media workers captured by the Russians. And these are exclusively those who have not taken up arms, therefore they cannot be considered combatants, and therefore are protected by the Geneva Convention as a separate category of civilians. This is a big challenge for our committee. We are looking for the support of colleagues from abroad and are doing everything possible to free our people," the parliamentarian wrote on his Facebook page on Tuesday.

Yurchyshyn informed that together with Reporters Without Borders, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of speech plans to conduct a public campaign with an emphasis on international structures.

"It is pleasant that colleagues know and accompany the cases of both Victoria Roschina from Ukrayinska Pravda [the journalist disappeared on August 3, 2023 from the temporarily occupied territory where she was reporting] and Dmytro Khyliuk from UNIAN [the agency's correspondent was abducted by Russians approximately on March 4, 2022 and, according to preliminary data, currently located in one of the colonies of Vladimir region of Russia]. We have separately focused on public journalists from Crimea," the head of the parliamentary committee said.

At the same time, he stressed that Ukraine intends to release all captured media workers, using all means to do so.

"We are working in this direction with the Coordination Headquarters on the treatment of prisoners of war. Regarding journalists, we have separate mechanisms that international law provides us. And we cannot, we have no right not to use them," Yurchyshyn added.

Reporters Without Borders is an international non–governmental human rights organization that protects freedom of speech around the world. The organization fights censorship and stands for the dismissal of journalists in custody related to their professional activities. The organization was founded in Paris in 1985.