MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) — Over 250 employees of the International Information Agency (IIA) Rossiya Segodnya gathered for a flashmob to show their support for their colleague, photojournalist Andrei Stenin who went missing in eastern Ukraine.
Rossiya Segodnya’s photographer Andrei Stenin who was operating in Donetsk, Slovyansk and other cities in eastern Ukraine could not be contacted since August 5. An informed source told RIA Novosti that Stenin was abducted by Ukrainian forces and, according to preliminary reports, is being kept in Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) facility in Zaporizhia. However, the regional SBU headquarters in Zaporizhia denied detaining Stenin and claimed that they have no Russian journalists in their custody at all. The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case over the detention of Russian photographer Andrei Stenin in eastern Ukraine.
“We’ve gathered for a flashmob to support Andrei. Today’s event demonstrated that all of Rossiya Segodnya’s employees are eager to support their colleague as over 250 people have gathered in the inner courtyard of the agency’s building. Most of them know Andrei personally and are very worried about him,” head of the Integrated Photography Directorate at International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya Alexander Shtol said.
The flashmob took place in the inner courtyard of IIA Rossiya Segodnya’s headquarters. #FreeAndrew was written with white crayons on the pavement and agency’s employees wearing bright T-shirts gathered around the writing and chanted together: “Free Andrei!”
Please support Andrei Stenin’s release by sharing the hashtag #FreeAndrew in social networks. Andrei is a professional war photographer reporting from the most dangerous war zones in the world. You can view Andrei’s pictures from Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Libya here and his most recent shots from eastern Ukraine here.
