MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya photo correspondent Andrei Stenin, who went missing in eastern Ukraine earlier this week, is currently being held by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in southern Ukraine, an informed source said Friday.
“He was captured by the Right Sector militants. … According to our information, he is currently held by the SBU in Zaporizhia,” the source said.
Stenin went missing on August 5 while covering the events in Donetsk, Slaviansk and other eastern Ukrainian cities.
Stenin’s abduction is not the first incident of mass-media workers coming into harm’s way in Ukraine. Back in June, a cameraman for Russia's Channel-1 TV station was fatally wounded in the stomach. Prior to that, a reporter and a sound engineer from Russia's VGTRK media holding were killed in a mortar attack near Luhansk.
Fighting in eastern Ukraine broke out in mid-April, when the Ukrainian government launched a military operation against independence supporters, who refused to acknowledge the authorities instated after the February 22 coup.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Kiev’s actions, urging it to stop the “punitive” operation and advocating a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
