MOSCOW, May 13 (RIA Novosti) – Russian investigators have launched a case into the attempted murder of a Russian TV correspondent in southeastern Ukraine, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee said Tuesday.
“A case has been launched in regard to the wounding of a string cameraman for the Russia Today agency, Fyodor Zavaleikov,” Vladimir Markin said.
The case involves several articles of the Criminal Code, including “obstruction of the lawful professional activities of journalists,” which could carry a penalty of six years’ imprisonment.
The reporter for RT's Ruptly video news agency was filming Ukrainian security forces' storming of the Mariupol police headquarters, but was injured while crossing the street, Markin said.
During an armed battle in Mariupol on May 9, the 23-year-old cameraman was shot in the abdomen and taken to a local hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.
On May 12, Zavaleikov arrived in Moscow aboard a German emergency airplane after it received permission to land in Donetsk.
Russia was unable to bring Zavaleikov back to his home country because Ukraine had closed its airspace.
A resident of Mariupol witnessed the incident. He earlier shared with the RT channel some video footage in which the journalist can be seen before and after the gunshots, along with armed men in masks and military uniforms.
The witness told the channel that the RT cameraman was shot near the Internal Affairs headquarters. The journalist showed armed people wearing masks that he was unarmed and that he worked in the media. Then he decided to cross the road, the gunshot was heard and the cameraman fell down.
The resident said “there was no way [Zavaleikov] could have provoked the shooting, he had been making clear that he was a journalist and wanted to come closer in order to make a video.”
Since March, anti-government protests have been spreading across southeastern regions of Ukraine, where people have refused to recognize the interim government in Kiev and have called for federalization. Ukraine's new authorities, supported by radical ultra nationalist groups, launched a special operation to crack down on the protesters in mid-April, which has already led to dozens of deaths and injuries.
Over the last two months, reporters of Russia's leading channels have been kidnapped, beaten and threatened and denied access to Ukraine. Broadcasting of Russian media has also been banned across the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly called on the international community to condemn Ukraine's violations of media freedom and violence against journalists in the country.
