Moscow - Moscow demands a thorough investigation into the death of Russian photographer Andrei Stenin in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“We insist that Kyiv hold a thorough and unbiased inquiry into the murder of A. Stenin and severely punish the culprits. Russia has lost four journalists in Ukraine within the past few months – this is an unprecedented situation, even compared with other armed conflicts of recent years,” says a ministry statement published on its website.
“The unlawful practices hindering journalist activity, including attacks, murders, illegal detentions and abductions of employees of the media unwelcome by the Kyiv authorities, must stop now,” the ministry said.
“We are expecting a relevant and resolute influence on Kyiv of the international community, including the United States and European Union countries that care so much about the freedom of speech and media in other countries and regions of the world,” it said.
“We were very upset and indignant when we learned the shocking circumstances of the death of international news agency Rossiya Segodnya photographer A. Stenin, who had last made contact with his editors on Aug. 5. We offer sincere and profound condolences to the family and friends of Andrei and express our sympathy and solidarity with the collective of the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya and the entire Russian journalist community,” the statement said.
“According to the information released by the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya, which is based in particular on the examination of A. Stenin’s remains by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, there are a number of indications that another barbarian murder has been committed by the Ukrainian “National Guards” who, according to eyewitnesses, controlled the territory where the shelled vehicles, among them the one containing A. Stenin’s body, had been found,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“How many more innocent lives have to be sacrificed before Kyiv stops its thoughtless criminal policy towards millions of residents of the southeast? Western sponsors should quit their hypocrisy and double dealing in the evaluation of the actual catastrophic situation with human rights in Ukraine, whose administration wishes to join “the civilized European family” so much,” the ministry stressed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered condolences to the family and friends of A. Stenin.
Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax Stenin died on the Snizhne-Dmytrivka road in southeastern Ukraine during a Ukrainian army attack on a refugee convoy.
Stenin disappeared in eastern Ukraine in early August and there was no news of him until recently.
