In response to reports that Ukrainian journalist Yevhenii Sakun was killed on Tuesday, March 1, when Russian forces shelled a television tower in Kyiv, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement of condemnation: “We are deeply saddened by the death of Ukrainian journalist Yevhenii Sakun, who was killed in a reckless Russian attack on civilian infrastructure in Kyiv,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “All parties to the conflict must protect local and international journalists and stop targeting media facilities and equipment.” Sakun, 49, was a camera operator for the Ukrainian television station LIVE, which had covered the Russian invasion, according to a post on Twitter by his former colleague, EFE Noticias reporter Olga Tokariuk, and a post on Facebook by Sergiy Tomilenko, the head of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, a local professional union. Tomilenko told CPJ via email that Sakun was working along with his colleagues at the time of the attack, and his body was identified by his press card. Tomilenko told CPJ and wrote on Facebook that the Ukrainian National Police had confirmed Sakun’s death to the journalist’s union. Four other people were killed in that attack, according to reports. Russian forces also shelled TV towers in the eastern Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Lisichansk on Wednesday, according to news reports, which did not immediately report any casualties in those attacks.
via cpj: Ukrainian camera operator Yevhenii Sakun killed in Russian shelling of Kyiv TV tower