The Association of European Journalists is appalled by the contract-style murder of Oles Buzyna, a former editor of the pro-Russian newspaper Segodnya, on 16 April outside his home in Kiev. We call on the Ukrainian authorities to conduct swift, impartial and effective investigations into the killing of Buzyna and of other journalists whose deaths in Ukraine have not been properly investigated or resolved.
Buzina was well-known for his outspokenly pro-Russian views; and he had been expected to give evidence to an investigation to identify those behind the shooting of unarmed protestors during the Maidan protests against the former government of Viktor Yanukovych which began in November 2013.
Another prominent figure in the anti-Maidan movement, former member of parliament Oleg Kalashnikov, was shot dead outside his apartment in Kiev only one day before Oles Buzyna was killed. Every effort must be made by the authorities to protect witnesses to the inquiries into those events.
On the night of 12-13 April Ukrainian journalist Sergey Sukhobok, identified as a co-founder of the ProUA website and a contributor to other Ukrainian media outlets, was killed in Kiev in circumstances which could not immediately be clarified.
On 16 April that Olga Moroz, the 44 year old editor of Neteshintsky Vestnek newspaper in Neteshyn city in west central Ukraine, was found dead at her home in unexplained circumstances. Some media reports said there were signs that violence had been used. A police investigation is reported to have begun into the case.
The AEJ expects investigators in every case of a journalist’s killing to take full account of possible links to the victim’s work as a journalist. We also call on all parties to the fighting in eastern Ukraine to take all necessary steps to protect the safety and security of journalists in areas of conflict or danger, in line with obligations in national and international law.