Another Russian journalist killed in shooting near Donetsk

A cameraman of Russia's First Channel was killed in southeastern Ukraine. Anatoly Klyan was lethally wounded in the stomach during a trip to a military unit in Donetsk. The information was confirmed by First Channel representatives. The tragedy occurred during the time of the truce, which President Poroshenko extended on Friday for 72 hours. The truce expires today, June 30, in the evening.

"Our colleague, a cameraman of the First Channel, Anatoly Klyan, was killed this night in Donetsk. He was 68 years old. The tragedy occurred not far from the military unit, where the crew arrived to make a report."

The trip to military unit No. 1428, located under Avdiyivka, 15 kilometers from Donetsk, was organized by the press service of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk. The journalists were traveling by bus together with mothers of conscripts, who were going there with an intention to bring their sons back home. 

According to one source, shortly before the arrival to the place of destination, the military suddenly opened fire in the direction of the bus. After the start of the shooting, the journalists managed to board the bus and move some 500 meters away from the military unit. One of the witnesses said that before the shooting, passengers of the bus had had a heated argument with the military.

Then the people went out, but someone fired a flare gun and the automatic fire started again.

"Everyone ran back into the bus, and the shooting started. They were shooting exactly at the bus," one of the journalists from the crew said. "I opened the door and squeezed inside, as the bus was moving away. At this point, they shot at us, the bullet shattered the glass, and the driver grabbed his head. I saw that he was wounded, the blood started flowing. He drove away and was driving fast until he started to lose consciousness. We almost hit a tree and swerved into a ditch."

When the bus stopped, it turned out that one person was injured - it was Anatoly Klyan. "We stopped a car that was driving by and put him in there. The last words that he said were: "Camera, camera..." 

Doctors were unable to save the journalist.

Anatoly Klyan had worked at the news department of the First Channel for more than 40 years. The journalist had been on hundreds of trips around the world, including hotspots. When the Ukrainian authorities barred Russian men up to 50 years of age from entering Ukraine, Anatoly said that he had an advantage over younger colleagues.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has already released an official statement in connection with the death of another Russian journalist in Ukraine. 

"The death of a Russian journalist in Donetsk region has again showed convincingly that the security forces of Ukraine clearly do not want to de-escalate the conflict in the east of the country and block the truce instead." 

Anatoly Klyan has thus become another representative of mass media, who lost his life in the armed conflict in the south-east of Ukraine. On June 17, two employees of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) were killed near Luhansk: special correspondent Igor Kornelyuk and sound engineer Anton Voloshin. They came under mortar attack near a checkpoint of the militia, as they were filming a report about how self-defense fighters were rescuing refugees from the danger zone. The journalists were wearing clothes with "PRESS" markings on them. "According to eyewitnesses, a shell exploded close to the crew. Sound engineer Voloshin died on the spot; Kornelyuk died later at a local hospital.

On May 24, near Slavyansk, Italian photojournalist Andrea Rokelli and his Russian translator Andrei Mironov were killed in a mortar attack near Slavyansk. 

Pravda.Ru