RT TV Channel (Remitido).- Having read in detail the UNESCO Director-General’s draft Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity, RT TV channel expresses its indignation at the fact that the cases of murders, attacks and threats against Russian journalists have been completely ignored —yet again. This is not the first time that UNESCO has essentially denied Russian journalists the right to defend their rights, even though by definition UNESCO should be neutral and treat all countries with equal attention. Below is a list of cases that fall within the criteria of the organization’s reports and the Director-General’s reaction but have not received your attention:

ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS

In April 2022, the FSB stopped an attempted assassination against RT editor-in- chief Margarita Simonyan and five other top Russian journalists. The assassination was being prepared by members of the terrorist organization National Socialism/White Power on assignment from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)

In July 2023, the FSB foiled an assassination attempt targeting RT’s chief editor Margarita Simonyan. The action was prepared by Paragraph 88, a Ukrainian neo- Nazi group

VIOLENCE

In September 2024, hours before the announcement of US sanctions against RT, a female RT employee’s home in Miami was raided by 20 armed FBI agents. She was beaten, interrogated naked for 5 hours, and her phones, computer, and other media were seized. She was informed that she was a suspect in a case of conspiracy against the United States, financial fraud, and violation of the Foreign Agents Act. The next day, with the help of the Russian consulate, she and her family were rushed to Russia before U.S. authorities could file charges.

THREATS

2014

RT executives (Margarita Simonyan, Elizaveta Brodskaya, Viktoria Vorontsova, Maya Manna, etc.) and dozens of RT employees are listed on the Myrotvorets website. Their personal data is put on public display, which is, in essence, a direct threat to their lives. The database is updated on an ongoing basis.

2014

Personal info of war correspondent Roman Kosarev, including his address and contact details, leaks online.

He has been receiving threats via messengers and social media since 2014. The threats are always of the same type, promising all kinds of murder, mutilation, and sexual violence against Roman and his family.

May 2015

RT correspondent Paula Slier, who was covering a fire in the exclusion zone near Chernobyl, leaves Ukraine following numerous threats against her, coming from Ukrainian journalists. Denis Kazansky, Ukrainian blogger and journalist with the Ukrainskiy Tyzhden newspaper, posted a public call to hunt down RT correspondent Paula Slier in his Facebook account

September 2015, Syria – The opposition in Syria puts a bounty on the heads of Russian journalists (including Murad Gazdiev). Many threats followed, some of which had to be dealt with by our security service. In the following years, the threats did not stop.

2016, Karabakh — Murad Gazdiyev’s group receives numerous threats from Azerbaijan’s officials and nationalists for working with the Karabakh authorities.

2017, Iraq — multiple threats and attacks against Murad Gazdiyev’s group by ISIS during the Mosul assault

2020, Minsk — numerous threats, even to the point of assassination, coming from Lukashenko’s opposition to RT. During the protests, the crowd repeatedly tried to grab the cameras. Addresses and passport details were leaked. There were attempts to track down the crews of Murad Gazdiev, Igor Zhdanov, and Konstantin Prydybailo in the crowd.

2020, Karabakh — threats to Igor Zhdanov’s group coming from Azerbaijanis, including those claiming to be Azerbaijani army personnel.

2022

The number of threats received via social media against war correspondents Roman Kosarev, Maria Finoshina, Murad Gazdiev, Igor Zhdanov, Steve Sweeney, and their families, increased after the start of the Special Military Operation in 2022.

The same goes true for foreign journalists who continue to work for RT after the start of the Special Operation.

2022-2024 SMO: regular threats from Ukrainians, targeted attacks specifically against journalists, including the use of precision weapons like kamikaze drones, whose operators can clearly see whether the target in front of them is civilian or military.

2022. Maria Finoshina’s personal data is leaked. She receives threats through her social media, phone, and messengers, including photos of corpses from the SVO zone with the caption “the same fate awaits you”. Someone had a ritual kit delivered to her home: shroud, wreath, coffin, etc.

2022. Correspondent Donald Courter receives messages from unknown people threatening his family in the States (their home address stated in the note).

2023. Correspondent Chay Bowes receives repeated messages via social media threatening his and his family’s life and well-being.

Correspondent Steve Sweeney is listed on the Myrotvorets website, receiving numerous messages with threats to his life. Ukrainian public channels call to track down and kill him on a tour of duty.

Steve’s old home address in the UK is published online, with a call to attack the correspondent.

In January 2024, Steve Sweeney’s group came under fire near Donetsk, shortly after he spoke in front of the UN Security Council about Kiev’s war crimes in Donbass.

We are also outraged that the report fails to mention the numerous cases of murders, attempted murders, and other forms of violence against our colleagues from other Russian media outlets. Behind all these tragedies are the lives of people who honestly fulfilled their professional duty, and it is the duty of UNESCO’s leadership to take all necessary measures to ensure that such incidents do not happen again in the future.