Russian becomes sixth journalist to be killed this year in Ukraine

[newthinking]

It was a misguided attempt to try to talk with the Ukrainian soldiers by a group of mothers of Ukrainian soldiers and he was documenting it. Second time in the last two weeks reporters covering the stories of civilians have been killed.

Reporters without Borders
Pervy Kanal cameraman is fatally shot outside barracks in Donetsk region

Russian TV cameraman Anatoly Klyan (Анатолий Клян has become the sixth journalist to be killed in connection with his work since the start of the year in Ukraine. Aged 68, he was fatally shot in the stomach last night near Opytnoye, a village in the eastern Donetsk region, his TV station, Moscow-based Pervy Kanal, confirmed.

Klyan was shot as he and other journalists accompanied supporters of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk (PRD) and the mothers of Ukrainian soldiers in a minibus displaying pacifist banners on a visit to a Ukrainian army barracks to ask the authorities to demobilize the soldiers.

Driven by a man in camouflage fatigues, the minibus set off from Donetsk at around 11:45 pm. Pervy Kanal reporter Yevgeny Lyamin said shots were fired from the barracks as the minibus approached, forcing it to retreat about 500 metres. When Klyan and other passengers got out, more shots were fired, hitting the driver and Klyan, who died after being taken to a Donetsk municipal hospital.

“We offer our condolences to Klyan’s family and colleagues,” said Johann Bihr, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. “A full and impartial investigation must be conducted into all the circumstances surrounding his death, from the minibus’ departure in the middle of the night to the barracks, to the shot that cost him his life.”

http://en.rsf.org/ukraine-russian-becomes-sixth-journalist-30-06-2014,46553.html

[newthinking]

1. I was confused by the story because it said "Mothers of Ukrainian Soldiers". I have confirmed that

the Russian journalist was indeed doing a human interest story on the Ukrainian side. It was a bussload of mothers going to visit the base. The reason apparently that they were out at night was to visit before the ceasefire ended.

One of the mothers was also killed and that is not being reported (you can see her fall over in one of the video's on the page linked above). Terrible tragedy.

[TorchTheWitch]

2. I'm not seeing any woman fall over in either video

If you're talking about the woman with light hair in a ponytail wearing a red jacket with a red backpack on, she didn't fall over. She laid down as many other passengers were already doing just as the shots started firing. She is then seen standing up holding onto vertical handrails. She's seen again trying to help the journalist that was shot and later died along with a slim young and a woman in a multicolored jacket. You can see also see her outside the bus talking to who I think is the same young man that was trying to help the shot journalist. You can also see her in the far right side of the 2nd video as the injured journalist is being helped into a car.

The second video is extremely blurry until after all the shooting, so there's no woman to see fall over in that one. The first video doesn't seem to show any woman that fell over from the gunfire nor was there anything of a woman being helped or shown bleeding or anything.

Where is this woman that supposedly was killed falling over, and why would she have been ignored by the cameras filming the injured driver and the journalist who ended up dying?

[newthinking]

4. I see you are correct. I can't verify that a woman was killed

so it does indeed sound like the rest of the van was miraculously spared injury. There was a second van behind it but apparently they escaped the gunfire.

The blurry video I believe is the the last work of the man who died. He was actually the cameraman.

[TorchTheWitch]

6. It's so awful to see him alive and looking so scared

in the video and even walking himself to the car that took him to the hospital and know that he didn't survive.

I'm really glad that so many people on the bus where so good to him holding his hand and giving encouragement or even just sitting vigil with him.

[newthinking]

5. Someone likely got the shock of their life. Their own mothers almost got shot.

They were heading out to see their sons.