Reporters Without Borders: Russia was world’s fifth-largest jailer of journalists, Belarus was third-largest in 2023

Between January 1, 2023, and the beginning of December, 45 journalists were killed around the globe in connection with their work, according to an annual report from Reporters Without Borders’s (RSF).

About half (23) of these journalists were killed in war zones. Of those, 17 were killed in Israel, Lebanon, or the Gaza Strip, while two were killed in Ukraine.

RSF noted that 2023 has seen the lowest number of reporters killed in the line of duty than any year since 2002.

A total of 521 journalists are currently imprisoned worldwide, according to the round-up’s authors. Thirty-nine journalists are reportedly behind bars in Belarus, making it the country with the third highest number of jailed journalists, while Russia has 28 journalists in prison.