A journalist stands atop a destroyed vehicle after fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
The Torch

Two Ukrainian journalists’ bodies found in Bucha and Yahidne after Russian withdrawal

The Torch is a weekly newsletter from the Committee to Protect Journalists that brings you the latest press freedom and journalist safety news from around the world. Subscribe here.

After Russian withdrawal, Ukrainian journalists found killed: video technician Roman Nezhyborets’ body was found buried in the northern Ukrainian village of Yahidne, and freelance journalist Zoreslav Zamoysky’s body was found in Bucha, near the capital of Kyiv. Local Ukrainians found the bodies after Russian forces withdrew from those areas.

More from CPJ’s coverage of the war:

  • Siberian news outlets, management charged for disseminating ‘fakes’ about Russian army
  • Russian journalists labeled as “foreign agents,” detained, and attacked while reporting
  • Russian forces release Ukrainian journalist Iryna Dubchenko
  • Russian journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dmitry Muratov attacked with paint
  • Emily Bell: Tech companies must “wake up” to their role in Ukraine war disinformation

Check out CPJ’s Russia-Ukraine Watch updated weekly on Thursdays here, and sign up to receive a daily digest of our coverage of the war and press freedom here.

Global press freedom updates

  • Russian court sentences four student journalists to two years of correctional labor
  • How Venezuela’s government uses private internet providers to restrict access to the news
  • Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan granted bail, then re-arrested under preventative detention law. Watch CPJ’s video on his case and similar cases in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir
  • Greek journalist Thanasis Koukakis targeted by Predator spyware
  • Hong Kong police arrest journalist Allan Au for alleged sedition
  • New El Salvador law threatens up to 15 years in prison for reporting on gangs
  • CPJ condemns decision to move Jamal Khashoggi murder trial from Turkey to Saudi Arabia
  • In India, Madhya Pradesh police beat and detain journalists Kanishk Tiwari and Aditya Singh Bhadauria. Separately in the country, Uttar Pradesh police arrest two journalists over coverage of leaked school exams, and reporters were attacked covering a Delhi demonstration
  • Belarusian journalist Katsiaryna Andreyeva facing up to 15 years in prison on treason charges
  • Malawi journalist Gregory Gondwe detained, questioned about sources for article on alleged corruption
  • Somaliland intelligence officers attack three journalists; detain journalist Abdisalan Ahmed Awad
  • Dozens raid Turkish TV broadcaster Deniz Postası, beat journalist Azim Deniz
  • Vietnamese journalist Phan Bui Bao Thy sentenced to “re-education” over social media posts. Separately in the country, journalist Nguyen Hoai Nam sentenced to three and a half years in prison

Spotlight

CPJ’s Advocacy Director Gypsy Guillén Kaiser moderated a U.N. side event, “Enhancing the protection of women human rights defenders and journalists: Survivors’ perspectives,” on Tuesday.

During the event, the U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict appointed Colombian journalist Jineth Bedoya Lima as a U.N. Global Champion in recognition of her courage and contribution to the prevention of conflict-related sexual violence. On May 25, 2000, Bedoya, then a reporter for daily El Espectador, was abducted outside a Bogotá prison where she was set to interview a member of a paramilitary group, and driven to another city, where she was beaten and raped.

Watch the full event here.

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