American Reporter Held in Ukraine
Simon Ostrovsky, an American reporter for VICE News, has been detained by pro-Russia separatists in the eastern Ukrainian town of Slovyansk.
Roland Oliphant, The Telegraph’s Moscow correspondent, tweeted that he had confirmation from separatist leader and self-appointed ‘people’s mayor’ of Slovyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, that Ostrovsky was captured:
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Ostrovsky (Twitter: @SimonOstrovsky) has been producing a series of first-person video dispatches on VICE’s YouTube channel under the headline “Russian Roulette: The Invasion of Ukraine.’’ His latest dispatch was published on Sunday:
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He last reported Monday from a press conference given by Ponomarev, where tensions between journalists and the separatists who have taken over Slovyansk were clear via his tweet:
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Brooklyn-based VICE News issued a statement about Ostrovsky’s capture Tuesday:
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According to The Interpreter’s translation of an announcement from Russian website Gazeta.RU, Ponomarev claimed in a press conference that Ostrovsky was fine, but disputed claims that he was captured:
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KyivPost reported that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe called for Ostrovsky’s release, and that OSCE officials denounced the treatment of the press in Ukraine:
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