Russia criticizes West, international bodies for silence on deaths of journalists covering conflicts

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized the West and international organizations on Wednesday for their lack of response to the deaths of journalists covering conflicts.

The killings of reporters is “an unprecedented tragedy in terms of the number of journalists murdered while performing their professional duties,” she said.

“Moreover, all of this is met with silence -- not just a lack of action, but not even a statement -- from relevant institutions. UNESCO, in particular, is shamefully silent, as if its Director-General Audrey Azoulay has nothing to say on the matter,” she said in response to a question from Anadolu at a news conference in Moscow.

Zakharova said UNESCO’s silence is “a disgraceful phenomenon” as she urged the international community to protest and express distrust in the organization, emphasizing that one of UNESCO’s core mandates is to protect journalists and uphold freedom of speech.

“They receive funds from the UN secretariat-general specifically for this purpose, and while they host numerous events, journalists are being targeted outside UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris,” she said.

UNESCO -- the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -- is a specialized agency of the UN that was established in 1945 to promote international collaboration through educational, scientific and cultural reforms to increase universal respect for justice, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Zakharova offered condolences for Hasan Hamad, a freelance cameraman for Anadolu, who was killed Oct. 6 in an attack by Israel in northern Gaza, and to the families of other journalists killed covering that conflict in the past year. ​​​​​​​

“The situation for journalists’ safety in areas like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and other regional clashes is catastrophic,” said Zakharova.

She added that the same applies to the situation in Ukraine, where “not a single attack, murder, or serious injury inflicted upon Russian journalists has been acknowledged by UNESCO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or any UN representatives.”

Zakharova argued that Western nations claim to value freedom of speech while simultaneously supplying weapons that contribute to the deaths of journalists, thus contradicting their stated values.

She also highlighted a biased Western stance toward freedom of speech in countries like Türkiye.

“Journalists are vital in Türkiye’s public life, yet the West is always critical of the situation there. However, when journalists are killed, they look the other way, only showing concern when it involves journalists who serve their mainstream interests.”

"The rest of the journalists, even if they are Americans, as it was in Ukraine, are dying, they are being killed by the Kyiv regime, this does not bother the US," she said.​​​​​​​