⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's statement on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (November 2, 2026) 💬 November 2 marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, established in 2013 by a #UN General Assembly resolution. This observance aims to draw global attention to the need to protect journalists as they carry out their professional duties and to reinforce the principle that atrocities committed against them must inevitably be punished. ❗️ We have to acknowledge that the actual situation regarding journalists’ safety has not improved and continues to steadily deteriorate. Over these years, the media landscape has turned into a full-fledged theatre of war, where the countries of the “collective West”, clinging to their former hegemony, use every means available to suppress dissent and impose on the #GlobalMajority the “only correct” view of world events. Repressive actions by the West and its protégés in Ukraine, Moldova and the Baltic states against Russian media outlets and their staff have still not received an adequate response from the relevant international organisations – the UN Human Rights Office, UNESCO, the OSCE and others. Emboldened by unchecked impunity, the Kiev regime is openly conducting a relentless hunt for members of the Russian media community. War correspondents on the front line know better than anyone that the blue “PRESS” patch on a bulletproof vest, which once offered protection against targeted fire, has become a convenient target for Ukrainian Banderites – visible from afar and used to direct deliberate attacks. Such attacks constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law, yet the relevant international bodies fail to direct criticism at those responsible. 🕯 In the 13 years since the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists was established, dozens of talented professionals have been killed by Ukrainian militants, including: ▪️ Igor Kornelyuk ▪️ Anton Voloshin ▪️ Andrey Stenin ▪️ Anatoly Klyan ▪️ Daria Dugina ▪️ Oleg Klokov ▪️ Maxim Fomin (Vladlen Tatarsky) ▪️ Rostislav Zhuravlev ▪️ Boris Maksudov ▪️ Semyon Yeryomin ▪️ Valery Kozhin ▪️ Nikita Tsisagi ▪️ Yulia Kuznetsova ▪️ Alexander Martemyanov ▪️ Alexander Fedorchak ▪️ Andrey Panov ▪️ Anna Prokofyeva ▪️ Nikita Goldin ▪️ Ivan Zuev *** 👉 Another regrettable consequence of the toxic politicisation of journalists’ protection is that many of the Russian correspondents named above were once again omitted from the newly published UNESCO Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists for 2024-2025. Although, at our insistence, a link to official Russian data on all such crimes was finally included in an annex to the report, the document itself continues to take a selective approach to statistics. We consider it necessary to recall that the 1997 General Conference resolution and the 2023 Executive Board decision require UNESCO’s leadership to condemn the killing of journalists and acts of physical violence against them without distinction. #NoStatuteOfLimitations There is NO statute of limitations for crimes against Russian journalists. ☝️ Russia will not back down from its legitimate demands within UNESCO and other relevant frameworks. The Russian MFA will continue to consistently defend the professional rights of Russian journalists abroad, work to create safe conditions for their activities and seek just punishment for those responsible for crimes against them. Read in full