Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register PARIS, June 22 (Reuters) – Ukrainian photographer Maksim Levin was “executed in cold blood” along with his friend Oleksiy Chernyshov by Russian forces north of Kiev on March 13, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reported in a 16-page report on Tuesday. . “The evidence against the Russian forces is overwhelming,” the group said in a statement on its website. Reuters could not independently verify the report’s findings. Russia’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Born in 1981, Levin was a documentary filmmaker who had occasionally contributed to Reuters coverage of the country since 2013. He disappeared on March 13, the day RSF says he was executed. read more “His death is a huge loss for the world of journalism. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time,” said John Pullman, Reuters’s global graphic editor. RSF said it had examined evidence at the scene that included bullets and Levin’s burnt car, as well as photographs taken of Levin and Chernysov’s corpses when they were discovered April 1. The report said Chernysov’s body position and other evidence suggested he may have been burned alive and that Levin may have been killed by one or two close-range shots. He said a photograph of his body showed three visible bullets. RSF collected data from May 24 to June 3. Ukrainian prosecutors say Levin was killed by two small arms shots fired by members of the Russian armed forces. Reuters could not independently verify this information. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Editing by Howard Goller Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
