Maks Levin, a Ukrainian journalist who had been missing for over two weeks, was found dead near the capital city of Kyiv, according to a statement by Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
“Maks Levin went missing in the conflict area on March 13 in the Kyiv region. His body was found near the village of Guta Mezhygirska on April 1,” Yermak said on Telegram.
According to a report by The Kyiv Independent, the journalist had visited Kyiv’s Vyshgorod to chronicle the ongoing conflict. Levin previously worked with reputed media organizations including Associated Press, BBC and Reuters. He is survived by his wife and their four children.
Levin apparently died due to two shots fired by the Russian forces, according to an investigation by the Institute of Mass Information, an independent non-profit organization.
After he went missing, the Committee to Protect Journalists, an NGO that promotes press freedom, asked people with information on Levin to come forward.
“Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Ukrainian journalist Maks Levin should come forward at once, and Russian and Ukrainian security forces should ensure that journalists can cover the conflict safely,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
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In 2014, the journalist managed to flee an encirclement in an eastern town of Ukraine during a conflict between Ukrainian forces and separatists.
Levin isn’t the first journalist to fall victim to the Russia-Ukraine war. A week ago, Oksana Baulina, a Russian journalist for an investigative news organization, died during Russian shelling at a residential area in Kyiv.
On March 15, Pierre Zakrzewski, a Fox News cameraman, died after his vehicle was attacked on the outskirts of Kyiv.
On March 13, Brent Renaud, a journalist for the New York Times was shot dead near Irpin.
