A report released on Wednesday by a press freedom group found that Russian forces “executed” a Ukrainian photojournalist and his friend in “cold blood” in the early weeks of the war in Ukraine.
An investigation conducted by the nonprofit group Reporters Without Borders found that photographer Maks Levin was shot twice in the head and once in the chest by Russian soldiers in a forest north of Kyiv on March 13. Levin’s friend, Oleksiy Chernyshov, a Ukrainian soldier, accompanied Levin on the trip to retrieve a lost photography drone and was burned alive by Russian troops before being shot dead, according to the report.
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“Analysis of the photos of the crime scene, the observations made on the spot, and the material evidence recovered clearly point to an execution that may have been preceded by interrogation or even acts of torture,” Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders, said of the group’s investigation.
“In the context of a war heavily marked by propaganda and Kremlin censorship, Maks Levin and his friend paid with their lives for their fight for reliable information. We owe them the truth, and we will fight to identify and find those who executed them,” Deloire added.
Levin, 40, was an “experienced freelancer” who often collaborated with Western media outlets, according to Reporters Without Borders. He went missing during a trip north of Kyiv on March 13. His body was found by Ukrainian police on April 1. An autopsy did not list a cause of death, according to the group.
The press freedom group’s investigation into his death found “overwhelming” evidence indicating that Levin and Chernyshov were executed. Investigators found bullets and bullet casings at the scene and determined that Levin had been shot at close range by ammunition typically used by Russian forces. They also found evidence, including food packaging, utensils, and a trench, pointing to the presence of Russian troops in the area near where Levin and Chernyshov’s bodies were found.
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Reporters Without Borders hopes DNA can be extracted from the cutlery or other evidence found in order to identify suspects in the double murder case. The group believes Russia’s 106th airborne division or a special forces unit may have been in the region at the time of the killings.
On June 6, Ukrainian Culture and Information Policy Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said 32 reporters had been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion.
