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Remembering the fallen: Over 90 journalists die worldwide in 2023

The vast majority, 68 people were killed in the Gaza Strip

MOSCOW, December 15. /TASS/. A total of 94 journalists have died around the world this year, Chairman of the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJR) Vladimir Solovyev said, citing data from the International Federation of Journalists.

"According to the International Federation of Journalists, 94 reporters were killed worldwide in the outgoing year. Of these, the vast majority were in the Gaza Strip, 68 people. RIA Novosti military correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev and VGTRK correspondent Boris Maksudov <...> We have a wall of grief in our office, on which, taking into account the new losses, there are already 79 portraits of colleagues who died doing their professional duty," he said at an event dedicated to the Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty.

Solovyov said that a memorial wall listing the names of fallen journalists was opened in the Victory Museum this year. By 2025, a temple will be built where everyone will be able to honor the memory of war correspondents who died in the line of duty.

"A temple is being built in Mitino, near the Bratislavskaya metro station. It will be a memorial military temple complex of the holy martyrs Anatoly and Protoleon. For the first time in our country, there will be a side chapel in the lower church, dedicated to the memory of fallen war correspondents. This decision was made by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia together with Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin. The construction of the temple should be completed by Easter, and in 2025 it should be opened. I hope we will gather there and honor the memory of our colleagues," he said.

Secretary of the Union of Journalists of Russia Ashot Dzhazoyan suggested planting a cedar alley near the temple in memory of the fallen journalists. "We plan to do it on September 8, the Day of Journalists' Solidarity," he added.

The Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty is celebrated annually in Russia on December 15. The commemorative date was established in 1991 by the decision of the Russian Journalists' Union.

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