Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Khylyuk, abducted by the Russians in Kyiv Region more than a year ago, is being held in a Russian colony in Vladimir Region, the human rights organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said.
"Dmytro Khylyuk is alive. After several months of searching, RSF has found a trace of the journalist, who was arrested in the garden of his family home north of Kyiv less than two weeks after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in March 2022," it said.
According to RSF, the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN's journalist left remand centre No. 2 in Novozybkov, a small town in central Russia near the border with Belarus and Ukraine, around 13 May 2023. He had been held in this prison for over a year without any legal basis, as documented by the organisation through several unpublished testimonies confirming his detention.
The journalist was then taken to a prison in Vladimir Region, located several hundred kilometres east of Moscow.
In a message to his family in early June, he wrote: "I'm fine. I love you. Let UNIAN know that I am in prison."
The journalist was also seen twice in the new prison in late May, according to sources RSF met with in Ukraine last June who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.
This testimony is further evidence of the journalist's captivity, despite the fact that the Russian authorities still deny his detention or the opening of legal proceedings against him.
"By keeping this Ukrainian journalist, who has committed no crime, in prison, Russia continues to flout the Geneva Convention. The use of civilians as military prey to extract information or brainwash adds to the long list of atrocities committed since the beginning of the war. Dmytro Khylyuk is now a state hostage. He must be released unconditionally," said Arnaud Froger, head of Investigation Desk at RSF.
It is noted that there are 14 pre-trial detention centres in Vladimir Region. According to RSF, Khylyuk is being held either in penal colony No. 7 near Kovrov or in penal colony No. 6 in Melekhovo.
According to the Ukrainian media, Khylyuk was abducted by the Russian military in the village of Kozarovichi, Vyshhorod District, Kyiv Region, around 4 March 2022.