Russian photojournalist confirmed dead in Ukraine

PanARMENIAN.Net - Photojournalist Andrei Stenin, who went missing in eastern Ukraine in early August, died about a month ago when a car he was travelling in came under fire, Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev said Wednesday, Sept 3, citing results of an examination by the Russian Investigative Committee.

Kiselev said in a statement that the remains in a charred car found outside the city of Donetsk have been identified as Stenin's. He said the car apparently burst into flames after coming under fire from Ukrainian forces.

“Our colleague, photojournalist Andrei Stenin has been killed. It turned out that he was not taken prisoner. Neither anyone planned to swap him for any Ukrainian military personnel or accuse him of terrorist activities. All of the announcements that we heard from the Ukrainians about Stenin’s fate were lies,” Kiselev said, according to RIA Novosti.

Stenin went missing in eastern Ukraine on Aug 5. Sources said that the journalist was possibly held by the Ukrainian military, but Kiev has never officially confirmed the information.

On Aug 9, Rossiya Segodnya filed a request with the Ukrainian Interior Ministry to take action in order to locate Stenin, with the ministry undertaking the case on Aug 11.

On Aug 12, Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, said in an interview with Baltkom radio that security forces had arrested Stenin on charges of assisting terrorists. However, later Herashchenko claimed he was misinterpreted.

Stenin joined Rossiya Segodnya’s predecessor, RIA Novosti, in 2009. He reported from many conflict zones, including Syria, and covered the Arab Spring events in Egypt.