Ukrainian journalist and soldier ‘coldly executed’ says press group

A Ukrainian photojournalist and a soldier who was accompanying him appear to have been “coldly executed” during the first weeks of the Russian invasion, Reporters Without Borders said.

The press freedom group said it went back to the spot where the bodies of Maks Levin and serviceman Oleksiy Chernyshov were found on April 1 in woods north of the capital, Kyiv.

The pair had been searching the Russianoccupied woodlands for the reporter’s imagetaking drone at the time.

The group said it counted 14 bullet holes in the burned hulk of their car, which was still at the scene.

It said disused Russian positions, one of them still booby-trapped, were found close by.

Also found were the remains of food rations, cigarette packets and other litter seemingly left by Russian soldiers.

Some of Mr Levin and Mr Chernyshov’s belongings, including the soldier’s ID papers and parts of his bulletproof vest and the photographer’s helmet, were also recovered, it said.

A Ukrainian team with metal detectors also uncovered a bullet buried in the soil where Mr Levin’s body had lain, it said. The group said the discovery suggests “he was probably killed with one, perhaps two bullets fired at close range when he was already on the ground”.

A jerrycan for petrol was also found close to where Mr Chernyshov’s burned body had been recovered, it added.

Reporters Without Borders said its findings “show that the two men were doubtless coldly executed”.

Mr Levin and Mr Chernyshov were last heard from on March 13. A GPS tracker in their vehicle gave their last position in woods north of Kyiv, the group said.

It added that Mr Levin had lost his drone in the area on March 10 and had not been able to recover it because he had come under Russian fire.

The group said it had turned over the evidence it collected and dozens of photos to Ukrainian investigators.

“He was probably killed with one or two bullets at close range