You're reading: Killed Italian photojournalist was in ‘grey zone’ without official permission

Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli, for whose death Ukrainian serviceman Vitaliy Markiv is being held in Italy, was killed during 2014 in a so-called “grey zone” in Donbas not under control of Ukrainian authorities.

Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) Yevhen Yenin has said investigators have not established the identities of individuals involved in the journalist’s death.

“I can say Rocchelli visited the so-called ‘grey zone’ without coordinating the trip with Ukrainian authorities. We nevertheless understand the situation … and that Italian law-enforcement authorities are seeking justice in this matter,” Yenin said during a briefing in Kyiv on July 3.

Yenin said Ukraine has not received any written queries from Italian authorities regarding the matter.

As earlier reported Markiv was detained on June 30 in Italy on suspicion of killing an Italian photojournalist. He is deputy platoon commander in the battalion of the National Guard of Ukraine named after General Serhiy Kulchytsky, according to member of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction and coordinator of the Kulchytsky battalion Andriy Antonyschak has said.