Mediarukh has called for exchange of pro-Russian "political analyst" Molchanov for captured journalist Dmytro Khyliuk
Ukrainian journalists and media workers who are part of Mediarukh (Media Movement) have called on the authorities to exchange recently detained "political analyst" Kirill Molchanov — known to be part of Viktor Medvedchuk’s media circle — for Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, who has been held in Russian captivity for over three years.
According to Censor.NET, the appeal was published by Detector Media.
The authors of the statement recalled that on March 3, 2022, journalist Dmytro Khyliuk was abducted by Russian forces during the occupation of parts of Kyiv region. He was captured in the yard of his own home in Kozarovychi, near Kyiv.
Khyliuk was initially held in occupied Dymer, and later taken to Russia. He is now believed to be in one of the penal colonies in Russia’s Vladimir region. Ukraine has only unofficial information about his location, as Russia does not acknowledge his captivity.
The statement emphasizes that under international humanitarian law, civilian detainees cannot be held as prisoners of war. Therefore, there is no official mechanism for exchanging such individuals — they must be released unconditionally, without any demands or preconditions.
In the summer of 2024, it became known that Dmytro had lost a lot of weight and weighed no more than 45 kilograms - this was reported to the international organisation Reporters Without Borders by Ihor, a soldier released from Russian captivity who spent a year in the same cell with Dmytro.
At the same time, on 1 April 2025, the Security Service reported that it had returned to Ukraine Kirill Molchanov, a Russian agent and "political expert" from the media pool of former People`s Deputy Viktor Medvedchuk, a suspect in high treason.
According to the SSU, in 2022, Molchanov moved to Russia, where he became one of the key ideologues of the Kremlin's media projects. He was detained during a trip to Poland and deported to Ukraine, according to the Mediarukh.
"Since Ukraine already has experience of exchanging civilians in the interests of the state - Viktor Medvedchuk was exchanged for 215 captured Ukrainian defenders - we call on the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, and other state structures to release Dmytro Khiliuk from Russian captivity by exchanging him for the suspected collaborator Molchanov," the statement reads.
The statement is open for signature.
Earlier, Censor.NET reported that Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, who was abducted by Russians from the village of Kozarovychi, Kyiv region, in the spring of 2022, is being held in custody in Russia. It was also reported that the occupiers had taken UNIAN journalist Dmytro Khyliuk hostage.
Ukraine has unofficial information on the whereabouts of Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist with the UNIAN news agency, who was abducted by the occupiers in Kyiv region in March 2012.
