Svetlana Zalizetskaya

Affiliated media: Newspaper Holovna Gazeta Melitopoly, RIA Melitopol , Director, Journalist

Incident date: March 23, 2022

Attack type:

Search without a court decree

Who attacked: Authorities

Location: Ukraine, Zaporizhia Oblast, Melitopol

Additional information:

The Russian military stormed the house of the Melitopol journalist, searched it, and took her 76-year-old father hostage. The military demanded from Zalizetskaya to personally come to them for «a talk» in exchange for her father's release. Zalizetskaya also said that her parents' phones were taken away during the search. For security reasons, Svitlana left Melitopol some time ago but continues to be active on her news website, RIA-Melitopol. On 26 March, the journalist announced her father’s release. According to her, he was released after she agreed to publish a statement on the transfer of management of the news website RIA-Melitopol to third parties.