MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) - More than 250 employees of International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya on Tuesday took part in the flashmob in support of their fellow journalist, photographer Andrei Stenin, who has been detained by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) in the country’s east.
“We conducted a flashmob in support of Andrei. The action has shown that the Rossiya Segodnya team is ready to back their colleague up. Many employees know Andrei personally and are worried about his future,” Aleksandr Schtol, the head of the agency’s photo department said on Tuesday.
The event was held in the courtyard of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, where a large chalk “#FreeAndrew” inscription was made on the asphalt. The agency’s employees surrounded the inscription and started chanting “Free Andrew,” taking each other by the shoulders.
Rossiya Segodnya photojournalist Andrei Stenin was working in Donetsk, Slaviansk and other eastern Ukrainian cities, but went missing on August 5. On Tuesday, Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister for internal affairs, told Baltkom radio that Stenin was detained by the SBU. “We think that Andrei Stenin may be guilty of aiding terrorists,” Herashchenko said.
Dmitry Kiselev, director-general of International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya, described the accusations against Stenin as "artificial and ludicrous."
