MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti) - Independent nonprofit organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the killing of Rossiya Segodnya photojournalist Andrei Stenin and calls for a thorough investigation into his death, according to a statement published on official organization’s website.
"We condemn the killing of Andrei Stenin, which calls attention once again to the dangers of covering the conflict in Ukraine from any side," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova said.
“We urge Ukrainian authorities to do their utmost to conduct an effective probe into the circumstances of his death,” Ognianova said.
She also urged independence supporters in eastern Ukraine to “allow investigators access to the territory where Stenin was reportedly found.”
On Wednesday, Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev announced that Stenin, who went missing in Ukraine early in August, died about a month ago near Donetsk, according to information from the Russian Investigative Committee, which said that the journalist was killed in a Ukrainian attack on a column of refugees guarded by several eastern Ukraine independence supporters.
The car, in which Stenin was traveling while on an editorial assignment, was shot at and torched on a highway just outside Donetsk.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry demanded that Kiev launch a full investigation into Stenin’s death.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and other Russian politicians have expressed their condolences over Stenin’s death.
