The many questions about Arkady Babchenko’s staged murder in Ukraine
Minutes after news broke that prominent Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko had been murdered in Ukraine, social media exploded with messages mourning the loss of a bright, sometimes-too-outspoken journalist. Friends and colleagues wrote moving obituaries, and groups including CPJ condemned the killing. Impromptu memorials in both Kiev and Moscow sprouted, as they all too often do,…
UPDATE: Russian journalist Babchenko’s assassination was staged
New York, May 30, 2018– Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, who had been reported shot and killed in the Ukrainian capital yesterday, has appeared alive at a televised news conference in Kiev. Vasily Gritsak, head of the Ukrainian Security Service, said the agency faked Babchenko’s death to catch those who were trying to kill him. “We…
Mission Journal: Crimea’s journalists in exile as Russia muzzles free press
“First they asked if my parents had any guns or drugs in the apartment, then they showed my picture to my mother and asked her to identify me,” Anna Andriyevskaya said. The Crimean journalist, who is living in exile in Kiev, was describing a raid on her parents’ home by Russian FSB agents. “Any other…
Russian media regulator denies registration to Crimean news outlets
New York, March 19, 2015–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the deteriorating media climate in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that was annexed by Russia last year. On April 1, a news agency and a media company face being shut down after being denied registration by the Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor, according to news…
Independent Crimean broadcaster raided by Russian security agents
ATR Director Elzara Islyamova describes the raid on ATR before agents cut her short. (YouTube) New York, January 26, 2015–Authorities in Crimea should stop targeting the independent regional broadcaster ATR immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today after the broadcaster was raided and its equipment seized.
Crimean Tatar broadcaster accused of inciting extremism
New York, September 24, 2014–Kremlin-controlled authorities in Crimea should stop harassing the independent regional broadcaster ATR and allow the outlet to cover the news free from reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. ATR is the only regional broadcaster of the ethnic Crimean Tatar minority.
Mission Journal: Attacks on journalists in Ukraine lead to information vacuum
“There are no [independent] Ukrainian journalists left in Donetsk,” said Aleksei Matsuka, chief editor of the regional news website Novosti Donbassa (News of Donbass). “They have fled the region since pro-Russia separatists started targeting and kidnapping reporters,” Matsuka told CPJ during our brief meeting in Kiev.