MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/. Moscow has submitted to OSCE Secretary General Feridun Sinirlioglu a list of Russian journalists, who were killed since the beginning of 2022 and a letter from Vladimir Solovyov, Chairman of the Union of Russian Journalists, on this topic, said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference following talks with Sinirlioglu.
Lavrov said the topic of the safety of journalists was discussed in detail. It was emphasized that the OSCE representatives on freedom of the media are following a poor example of UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, who did not bother to mention crimes against Russian journalists in conflict zones at all in her annual report.
"We have made a corresponding demarche in front of UNESCO. We will seek to correct this blatant injustice and have today submitted to the secretary general a list of the journalists who lost their lives courageously while on duty from the beginning of 2022 to the present day. Vladimir Solovyov, Chairman of the Russian Union of Journalists, also wrote an open letter to the secretary general on this topic. We delivered the original letter today during the negotiations and, of course, we will continue addressing this topic," Lavrov said.
Azoulay's report on the safety of journalists and the problem of impunity for 2022-2023 overlooked numerous facts of murders of Russian journalists and military officers by militants of the Kiev regime. Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was regrettable that the current leadership of the organization "completely ignored the ideals and principles, on which cooperation in the field of mass media and information on this international platform has been built for years."