The bodies of two journalists have been found after Russian forces withdrew from previously occupied areas north of Kyiv.
It brings to nine the confirmed deaths of journalists killed since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has also reported the release of four of 5 journalists known to be held by Russian forces.
Ukrainian video editor Roman Nezhyborets was discovered buried in the northern village of Yahidne and Ukrainian freelance reporter Zoreslav Zamoysky was found in Bucha, where hundreds of civilians are believed to have died.
On April 2 Lithuanian documentary filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius was killed in the southeastern port city of Mariupol.
On April 2, the death of Ukrainian photojournalist Maks Levin was announced.
He had been missing since March 13 and Ukrainian independent news website LB.ua said police found his body on April 1 after a “long search” near the village of Huta-Mezhyhirska in the Vyshhorod district of the Kyiv region.
Levin was a freelance photojournalist and documentary filmmaker who had covered Russia’s invasions of Ukraine since 2014 and worked for various media outlets, including LB.ua, Reuters, the BBC, TRT World, and Associated Press.
On March 23, Russian journalist Oksana Ballina was killed during a Russian attack on Kyiv.
On March 14, an attack on a vehicle carrying a news team with U.S. broadcaster Fox News killed cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kuvshynova, and injured correspondent Benjamin Hall. The attack happened near the village of Horenka outside Kyiv.
A day earlier, U.S. reporter and documentary-maker Brent Renaud was shot and killed at a checkpoint in Irpin in an attack that also injured U.S. photographer Juan Arredondo.
Ukrainian camera operator Yevhenii Sakun died on March 1 when Russian military forces shelled a television tower in Kyiv, killing five people.
The war has taken a catastrophic toll on civilians with the UN estimating that 3.5 million refugees have fled the country.
There have been a number of other attacks on journalists and at least two reported missing for days – Ukrainian tv journalist Viktoria Roshchina in the Russian-occupied area near Mariupol released after 10 days and Ukrainian newspaper reporter Oleh Baturyn who was released after 8 days.
There was a chorus of protest led by UNESCO at the first foreign journalist killing – U.S. journalist Brent Renaud on March 13. The veteran reporter and award-winning filmmaker was working on a global refugee project for TIME when he was shot dead.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, said: “I condemn the killing of Brent Renaud. Journalists have a critical role in providing information during a conflict, and should never be targeted. I call on the respect of international humanitarian standards, to ensure that journalists and media workers are protected”.
The secretary general of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for an investigation into the circumstances of Renaud’s death. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ), the UK National Union of Journalists (NUJ), and the Committee to Protect Journalists all condemned the killing and called for the killers to be brought to justice.
Renaud had reported from multiple conflict zones for a number of American outlets, including HBO, NBC, the New York Times, PBS, Discovery and Vice, won multiple awards, and was a Nieman fellow at Harvard University.
Another journalist injured when Renaud was killed – Juan Arredondo -said the shooting happened at a checkpoint between two bridges in Irpin.
Ukrainian authorities said they were targeted by Russian soldiers.
UNESCO has condemned all the killings and RSF referred the March 1 attack on the Kyiv tv tower to the International Criminal Court as a war crime. The strikes on four radio and TV towers prevented Ukrainian media from broadcasting, affecting at least 32 TV channels and several dozen radio stations.
Committee to Protect Journalists Ukraine reports
Ukrainian journalists Roman Nezhyborets and Zoreslav Zamoysky found dead
Lithuanian documentary filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius killed
Ukrainian photojournalist Maks Levin reported dead
CPJ on Maks Levin death
Ukrainian journalist Irina Dubchenko released
Ukrainian journalist Oleksandr Gunko released
Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchina released
Ukrainian journalist Oleh Baturyn released
CPJ on how the situation for journalists has changed
Russian journalist Oksana Ballina working for Latvia media killed
Attack on Fox News team kills two
Oleksandra Sasha Kuvshynova
Pierre Zakrzewski
Brent Renaud shot and killed
Journalists in danger – first journalist killed
Committee to Protect Journalists urges Russian forces to stop harassing journalists
Inside Mariupol
Escaping Mariupol – a first person account
UNHCR live updates on Ukrainian refugees
Journalist Juan Arredondo injured in Renaud attack
UNESCO condemns Renaud killing
RSF calls for investigation
EFJ-IFJ call for justice
NUJ joins call for justice
Committee to Protect Journalists on Brent Renaud
Columbia Journalism Review on journalists in Ukraine
UNESCO on safety of journalists
RSF refers tv tower attacks to International Criminal Court
TIME on Brent Renaud
