MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/. Moscow demands that the murder of Russian journalists by the Ukrainian armed forces receive an appropriate response from UNESCO head Audrey Azoulay, Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said in connection with the death of Russian war correspondent Alexander Martemyanov in the Donetsk People's Republic.
"We demand that yet another brutal murder of a Russian war correspondent receive an appropriate response from Audrey Azoulay, as prescribed by her mandate. We expect the same decisive condemnation of this atrocity from all other human rights organizations and structures," the diplomat said.
"Attempts to hide behind empty excuses and general phrases cannot be considered an adequate response from the authorities authorized to do so. International officials who advocate for human rights will have to directly point to the perpetrators of these murders," she stressed.
Zakharova recalled that on January 4, as a result of a targeted drone attack by militants of the Kiev regime, Izvestia freelance correspondent Alexander Martemyanov was killed, and at least four employees of Russian media outlets were injured to varying degrees of severity.
"Without a doubt, media representatives were deliberately chosen as targets for a deadly attack. This is also evidenced by the testimonies of those who survived the attack," the commentary says.
"We express our deep condolences to the family, relatives and friends of Alexander Martemyanov, the editorial staff of the Izvestia international information center and all his colleagues who are currently performing their professional duty in the special military operation zone. We wish a speedy recovery to those injured in this inhuman terrorist attack," the ministry’s comment says.
As Zakharova also stressed, the death of the Russian war correspondent is a consequence of the deliberate ignoring of the atrocities of the Zelensky regime by relevant international structures.
"The deliberate murder of Russian journalists is yet another brutal crime in a series of bloody atrocities committed by the Zelensky regime, which openly resorts to terrorist methods to eliminate its ideological opponents," Zakharova pointed out.
"The Kiev clique is responsible for countless lives of innocent citizens, people of civilian professions, including journalists and war correspondents, who became victims of deliberate attacks as part of the terror campaign unleashed by Bandera's unhumans against the civilian population of Russia and their own country," she said.
"Perception of their complete impunity and permissiveness, the Bandera murderers of unarmed correspondents revel in, is a direct consequence of the deliberate ignoring of any crimes of the Kiev regime by specialized international structures, such as the UN OHCHR, UNESCO and the OSCE," the diplomat noted.
Perpetrators will be punished
Zakharova recalled that the recent draft report of the Director-General of UNESCO on the safety of journalists and the problem of impunity for crimes against them does not mention any single employee of the Russian media who died at the hands of Ukrainian militants.
"Although the approval of such a "report" replete with political distortions and statistical manipulations was prevented, so far the leadership of UNESCO and its head personally have not taken a single step that would indicate a radical revision of this deeply flawed and vicious practice. Thereby, the head of the universal organization becomes a direct accomplice and instigator of terrorist attacks," the commentary says.
"All those guilty of the crime against Russian journalists will be identified and will be brought to condign and inevitable punishment," the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman stressed.