Journalists killed, wounded in Ukraine honored in Kyiv

Journalists killed or wounded during Russia's invasion of Ukraine were honored Thursday in an exhibition in Kyiv, months into Moscow's war.

"The war continues, the war is not over. And this is a war in which our citizens are dying, in which Ukrainian and foreign journalists are dying," said Tetyana Teren, executive director of PEN Ukraine, one of the organizers of the exhibition.

"That is why we ask foreign media to tell the truth about this war and continue to tell the world about Russia's crimes in our country," she told AFP.

Portraits of reporters and media workers who have become victims of the conflict stare down at passers-by from large black and white boards in the capital's centre.

The exhibition is entitled "The War Is Not Over Yet" and organized by Kyiv city authorities with human rights and press advocacy groups.

It tells the stories of reporters who have been killed, wounded, or persecuted after Russia invaded its pro-EU neighbor on February 24.

"The Russian occupiers killed the American journalist, director and producer Brent Renaud," one of the large panels installed in a park central Kyiv reads.

Renaud, who died on March 13, was the first foreign journalist to be killed by Russian forces after the invasion on February 24, exhibition organizers said.

Other journalists who have lost their lives during the war, include Franco-Irish Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski who died on March 14 alongside Ukrainian producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova.

Their vehicle was struck by incoming fire, injuring correspondent Benjamin Hall, in Horenka outside the Ukrainian capital.

Frenchman Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff, died on May 30 accompanying civilians on board an evacuation bus in the east of Ukraine.

"Now that four months have passed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, it is more important than ever to intensify the world's focus on Ukraine," the organizers said in a statement.

"This exhibition is an expression of solidarity with Ukrainian media professionals who fight for the truth, risking their own lives,” they added.

Media rights group Reporters Without Borders said Wednesday that Russian soldiers killed Ukrainian photojournalist Maks Levin in March, possibly after having tortured him.

The international advocacy group says that eight reporters have been killed and 16 more injured since the start of Russia's invasion.

© 2022 AFP