Volodymyr Lakomov, who heads the Directorate General for International Security at the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has labeled all Russian journalists as "terrorists."
UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th October, 2021) Volodymyr Lakomov, who heads the Directorate General for International Security at the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has labeled all Russian journalists as "terrorists."
The senior diplomat, who was participating in the meetings of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York, retorted to a question from a RIA Novosti correspondent that he does not speak to "terrorists," after the journalist identified himself as an employee of the Russian news agency.
"I do not (speak to) terrorists, especially propaganda terrorists," Lakomov replied when the RIA Novosti correspondent tried to ask a question.
When asked whether he considered all Russian media terrorists, the diplomat replied in the affirmative.
"Yes, propaganda terrorists," Lakomov said.
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an independent international organization, has repeatedly raised concerns about harassment of journalists in Ukraine. In RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index, Ukraine dropped by one position to number 97, sandwiched between Liberia and Mauritania.
This year, Kiev banned several opposition-minded broadcasters, as well as all Russian media outlets operating in the country.
Russia in August filed its first inter-state complaint with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, raising concerns about the clampdown on freedom of press and freedom of speech in Ukraine as well as the violations of the European Convention on Human Rights.
