MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine should immediately clarify the whereabouts of Rossiya Segodnya photographer Andrei Stenin, who went missing in Ukraine on August 5, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Ukrainian counterpart Thursday.
“The Russian side has again stressed the need to immediately clarify the fate of journalist Andrei Stenin, who went missing in Ukraine,” the ministry said, commenting on a phone conversation between Sergei Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klymkin.
Andrei Stenin went missing on August 5, when he was reporting on the conflict in eastern Ukraine, including from the cities of Donetsk and Slaviansk.
Ukraine’s Interior Minister Adviser Anton Herashchenko said Tuesday that the journalist was arrested by Ukrainian security services for allegedly “aiding terrorists.”
Herashchenko later denied this, saying his words were misinterpreted.
“I don’t know where he is. I am just guessing that he may have been detained by our security service," he said.
An OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic called in a statement for Stenin’s immediate release, as the “dangerous practice of detaining and abducting media workers is unacceptable and must end.”
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the non-government organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called for Stenin’s release as well.
Please support Andrei Stenin’s release by sharing the hashtag #FreeAndrew in social networks. Andrei is a professional war photographer reporting from the most dangerous war zones in the world. You can view Andrei’s pictures from Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Libya here and his most recent shots from eastern Ukraine here.
