Ukraine’s murder of 30 Russian journalists met with Western indifference…or grotesque gloating

-by Eva Karene Bartlett

Just over two weeks after another Russian journalist was deliberately targeted and killed by Ukrainian forces, global media and most international journalist support groups remain unsurprisingly silent.

Nikita Tsitsagi, 29, a Russian photojournalist, was targeted by a Ukrainian drone on June 16 as he prepared to do another report from the St. Nicholas Monastery near Ugledar—a monastery, heavily-targeted by Ukrainian shelling over the years. Yet, civilians remain the region, and many have taken shelter in the monastery. These are often the focus of journalists who go there.

Just three days prior, Ukrainian forces targeted Russian NTV journalists filming in the extremely hard hit village of Golmovsky, east of the northern DPR city of Gorlovka. The Ukrainian drone strike killed cameraman Valery Kozhin and seriously injured Alexey Ivliyev, a war correspondent.

The targeting of journalists is a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

In June, President Vladimir Putin spoke of Ukraine’s targeting of Russian journalists, noting, “At least 30 people died, our journalists died, and no one gives us the opportunity to investigate what happened to them.”

Russia’s Envoy to UNESCO in Paris called for UNESCO to condemn the killing of Russian journalists, saying:

“All these killings, they were not condemned. This is despite the fact that the Secretariat has all the information on their killings.” He noted the lack of condemnation shows double standards and a political bias.