OREANDA-NEWS 82 Russian journalists are working in the special operation zone, and last year more than 1,100 representatives of the domestic media covered the events at the front, Deputy Defense Minister of the Russian Federation State Secretary Nikolai Pankov said on Thursday.

He stated this during the awards ceremony for journalists dedicated to the Day of the Russian Press, which was celebrated on January 13.

"Last year, more than 1,100 representatives of the Russian media covered the course of a special military operation while in combat areas. Right now, 82 journalists are, as they say, behind the "ribbon", and, risking their lives, they bring objective information about the heroism of our servicemen on the front line," Pankov said.

The Deputy Minister stressed that Russian journalists today bear "enormous responsibility for how the general public perceives what is happening at the front."

"It is your truthful reports from the field that help you not doubt who the truth is, and, ultimately, defeat the enemy," Pankov noted.

Among those awarded the medal of the military department "Konstantin Simonov": producer of the RT TV channel Lilia Zaripova, correspondent of Channel One Evgeny Lyamin, producer of the Rossiya-1 TV channel Oleg Dubinin, correspondent of the Izvestia News Center Ksenia Soldatova, correspondent of the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper Andrey Gavrilenko and head of the Zvezda TV channel in Murmansk Elena Sivonen.