Miami, October 20, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for the release of dissident Russian journalist Vladimir Driagin, who has been held under detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for almost a year despite volunteering to be deported.
In July, he was transferred to the Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Mississippi, but he could not be found in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detainee locator as of October 20.
“It is hard to see any justification for Vladimir Driagin’s prolonged detention,” said José Zamora, CPJ’s regional director for the Americas. “We urge DHS/ICE to reunite him as soon as possible with his family in Ukraine so he can resume reporting on the crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.”
Driagin was born in Russia but later lived and worked as a journalist in Ukraine with Sektor Zhyttia (Sector of Life), where he reported on subversive activities by Russian companies in Ukraine, including identification and tracing of children abducted from Russian occupied territories, according to the paper’s founding editor, Maryna Kovban.
Driagin entered the U.S. in 2022 to apply for asylum; the status of that application is currently unknown. He is now desperate to leave detention and return to his family in Ukraine. He fears that an administrative error could result in him being sent to Russia, where he says he previously experienced persecution and torture in connection with his opposition to the Russian government and his support for Ukraine. He says he last visited Russia in 2019 and has not returned since.
In a phone call from the detention facility where he is being held, Driagin told CPJ that an immigration judge issued a removal order, and the Ukrainian government has agreed to accept him. Despite these arrangements, he has waited months in detention without a clear explanation of when he will be transferred.
Driagin filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the Southern District of Mississippi on July 31, 2026, but has not received a decision.
A Department of Homeland Security official told CPJ that “Driagin remains in ICE custody while awaiting removal” and provided no further details.
A Ukrainian government spokesman told CPJ the matter “strictly involves U.S. immigration enforcement procedures and bilateral legal frameworks regarding foreign nationals.”
The Consulate General of Ukraine in Houston, Texas, told Driagin’s family that a certificate of identity for return to Ukraine is issued only to Ukrainian citizens who have lost their passports while abroad. Since Driagin is a citizen of the Russian Federation, he needs a valid Russian international passport to enter Ukraine.
Driagin has a valid Russian international passport, which is currently in ICE’s possession. He also has a valid Ukrainian residence permit, which is also in ICE’s possession. The Consulate confirmed that with a valid Ukrainian residence permit, he does not need a Ukrainian visa.
Driagin told CPJ that ICE is waiting for some type of “travel document,” but no one has been able to explain to him exactly what document they are waiting for, who is supposed to issue it, or what specifically is currently preventing Vladimir’s removal to Ukraine.
He said he has repeatedly contacted immigration officials but receives no meaningful answers, only assurances that his case is being handled.