PARIS, November 22. /TASS/. Russia categorically rejects the report by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay on journalist safety and the fight against impunity, as it does not reflect the real situation and ignores the murders of Russian journalists, said Russia’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, Rinat Alyautdinov, during a session of the Intergovernmental Council of the International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

"Russia categorically rejects the Director-General's report on journalist safety, in which the murders of Russian journalists in 2022-2023 are completely ignored. It does not reflect the real situation regarding journalist safety, is based on unreliable facts, and serves as a source of disinformation," said Alyautdinov.

The Russian diplomat reminded that over the past two years, several Russian journalists were killed by the Kiev regime, including Darya Dugina, Maxim Fomin (Vladlen Tatarsky), Oleg Klokov, Boris Maksudov, and Rostislav Zhuravlyov. Information about these murders was provided to the UNESCO Secretariat through diplomatic channels. Alyautdinov emphasized that the Director-General's selective approach to responding to the murders of media workers violates her obligations as head of the organization to condemn the killings of journalists without distinction.

"We call on the countries — members of the IPDC to take decisive action to address the Secretariat’s abuse of power, its division of UNESCO participants into 'friends' and ‘foes’, which contradicts the ideals and principles of the organization," he said.

Furthermore, during the session, Russian diplomats raised the issue of Russian journalists being denied entry to the UNESCO building to cover the IPDC Council session. The Russian mission reminded that such sessions are "open in nature, and there are no prohibitions on visiting the organization." "Thus, under the pressure of the collective West, the UNESCO Secretariat, led by Frenchwoman Audrey Azoulay, only declares freedom of speech in words, while in practice, it itself restricts journalists' rights," the statement from the Russian mission read.

Report on Journalist Safety

The two-day IPDC session is taking place on November 21 and 22 at UNESCO's Paris headquarters, discussing a wide range of issues related to media work, including journalist safety. The Director-General's report on journalist safety and impunity for 2022-2023 was presented as part of the session.

After the draft report was published, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed outrage that the UNESCO Secretariat and the Director-General personally "continue to demonstratively ignore" crimes committed by Kiev against Russian journalists, "including targeted murders, terrorist attacks, and attempts on lives." According to Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the draft report does not reflect the real situation regarding journalist safety and lacks information about killed Russian media workers. Additionally, the information officially provided by the Russian side was ignored by the organization’s Secretariat.