MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky's regime and his Western patrons will not be able to escape responsibility for the murders of Russian journalists and war correspondents, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"Dozens of journalists and war correspondents tragically fell victim to targeted attacks by neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian armed forces or the Kiev regime’s saboteurs, paying the highest price for their convictions. May they rest in peace. Neither the direct perpetrators of these bloody crimes and terrorist acts, nor their leadership, nor the Western patrons of the Zelensky regime's atrocities will be able to escape responsibility for these and other killings of civilians who are considered media workers under international law," the diplomat pointed out in a commentary on the occasion of Russian Press Day.

Zakharova noted that, amid the West's ongoing hybrid aggression against Russia and its people, journalists are among the first to refute the large-scale dissemination of fake news about Russia and effectively block anti-Russian propaganda. "Despite the censorship barriers erected by our enemies, Russian journalists manage to break through the information blockade and expand their audience of loyal readers, viewers, and listeners, even in countries with the most intolerant attitudes toward dissent," she added.

"Russian media correspondents abroad are often forced to withstand enormous pressure from the authorities of unfriendly regimes in the countries where they carry out their professional activities," the spokeswoman noted. "Many of them have had to deal with disgusting manifestations of Russophobia and discrimination, as well as various forms of politically motivated harassment, violence, and threats to their health and lives," Zakharova concluded.