MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) — The Kiev government is attempting to cover up the truth about the events in eastern Ukraine by all possible means, including putting the lives of journalists in danger, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday.
“Many Russian media workers have recently fallen victims of lawlessness in Ukraine. Attacks on our journalists come against the background of numerous statements by [Ukrainian] President [Petro] Poroshenko about his readiness to settle the situation in the southeast of the country, to reach a ceasefire,” the ministry said in a statement, stressing that Kiev uses “physical violence, deliberate shooting at journalists and torture,” which are forbidden under international law.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is outraged at Kiev’s approach to Russian journalists working in dangerous conditions in Ukraine, and urges an immediate stop to “such harassment and violence and to punish those responsible.”
“In reality, the Ukrainian authorities employ all means — including direct provocations that put the lives of Russian citizens in danger — to prevent attempts to reveal the truth about the events [in Ukraine] to the global community,” the statement reads.
“To date, the demands by the Russian side and other members of the international community to conduct an unbiased investigation into the attacks on our journalists and other attacks on civilians in the conflict zone remain unanswered,” the ministry concluded, stressing that Ukraine’s obligations in terms of “human rights and the rule of law” need to be fulfilled.
Cameraman from Russia’s Channel-1 television station Anatoly Klyan was killed late Sunday night by gunfire while traveling on a bus with a group of refugees outside the city of Donetsk.
The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded Kiev investigate the death of the journalist, appalled that “Ukraine’s power structures obviously do not want to de-escalate the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and are blocking the fragile ceasefire.”
According to Reporters Without Borders, more than 200 journalists have been injured or attacked in Ukraine since the start of the year.
