Reporters Without Borders reported that an investigation published Wednesday found evidence that Russian forces had killed a Ukrainian photojournalist, along with a soldier accompanying him, in a forest near Kyiv in March. Maksym Levin, nicknamed Max by colleagues, was found dead in April after friends lost contact with him in March. The photojournalist – who had worked for organizations such as Reuters, the BBC and Ukrainian agencies – wrote near the front line around the capital, from which Russian forces later retreated. He is one of at least eight journalists killed in the line of duty during Russia’s nearly four-month war in Ukraine, Reporters Without Borders reports. The press freedom group, known by its initials in French as RSF, has sent two investigators to Ukraine to gather information on Levin’s death in the northern suburbs of Kiev. These are the journalists who were killed during Russia’s war against Ukraine The investigation, including the location of Levin’s charred car, showed that the two men were “cold-bloodedly executed by Russian forces, most likely after interrogation and torture,” RSF reported on Wednesday, citing photos, testimonies, and bullets collected by location and other information gathered. “The evidence against the Russian forces is overwhelming,” he said. There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Levin, 40, who survived four young sons, as well as his wife and parents, had been embroiled in a clash between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Donbas region since 2014. He wanted to become a photographer from the age of 15, according to the Ukrainian online media LB.ua, where he worked. His colleagues remember that Levin once said: “Every Ukrainian photographer dreams of taking a picture that will stop the war.” Following its findings, the RSF said it “could not answer all the remaining questions”, but set out two evidence-based scenarios and hoped that a re-enactment of the facts could one day lead to the perpetrators. The RSF said it had counted 14 bullet marks in the car and recovered the identity documents of Levin’s friend, Ukrainian soldier Oleksiy Chernyshov, whose body had been burned. A gas canister and Levin’s helmet were nearby. Photos from April showed a bullet in the photographer’s chest and two in his head, the investigation added. He said the two were probably looking for the Levin camera drone when they were killed. A Ukrainian research team has discovered a bullet buried in the ground where Levin’s body was found and located a Russian position about 230 feet in the forest, which it could not approach due to the possible presence of explosive devices, RSF reported. The findings show that the bullets that hit Levin “were fired at close range when the journalist was already on the ground,” he said. In Bucha, the story of the body of a man left on a Russian murder field The report said that while Levin may at times have provided images from his drone to Ukrainian forces, the use of his equipment was “above all journalistic in nature”. The team said it had shared information with Ukrainian investigators and could not confirm whether authorities had carried out autopsies, which it described as vital to the investigation into the deaths. Fighting had broken out on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, near where Levin was reporting, before Russian forces shifted their focus eastward more recently. Their withdrawal revealed evidence of war crimes, including street corpses, arson and torture. The Kremlin has denied the allegations. In a post sharing Levin’s work shortly after his death, a Politico journalist described him as a thoughtful and also talented writer. “He was brave, talented and dedicated to covering this story,” Christopher Miller wrote. “He spoke of peace more than war.” Amar Nadhir contributed to this report.
