Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has urged Russia-backed separatists to release blogger Stanislav Aseyev, who has been held in eastern Ukraine since July 2017.
Aseyev, an RFE/RL contributor who wrote under the pen name Stanislav Vasin, disappeared in Ukraine’s Donetsk region on June 2, 2017. Weeks later, Amnesty International said it had received information that the journalist was being held by the separatists who control parts of the region.
“Stanislav has been held virtually incommunicado for two years because of his unflinching reporting from his native Donetsk,” said RFE/RL Acting President Daisy Sindelar on July 17. “I know I speak on behalf of a growing number of rights advocates, government officials, lawmakers, and journalists in deploring his detention and demanding his freedom.”
In July 2018, a friend and former lawmaker, Yehor Firsov, said Aseyev had declared a hunger strike and was being "kept in a damp room, sick, but does not receive the necessary medications" while under separatist custody.
In August, a bipartisan U.S. congressional caucus called for Aseyev's immediate release, describing him as "one of the few independent journalists to remain in the region under separatist control to provide objective reporting."
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida) also called for Aseyev’s release in July 2018.
The media rights group Reporters Without Borders has also voiced concern about Aseyev's treatment, which it called "increasingly disturbing."
RFE/RL has also urged the release of Ukrainian Service contributor Oleh Halazyuk, who has been held by Russia-backed separatists in Donetsk since August 2017.
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
'Escalation? The Russians Have Already Escalated': Former Estonian Spy Chief On Why The West Should Continue To Support Ukraine
2Russians Blame 'Sabotage' For Blasts At Crimean Ammo Depot; Kyiv Hints At Role
3American Investor Known For Russian Nightclub, Pro-Ukrainian Stances, Found Dead In Washington
4Ukraine Says Kherson Attack Repelled, Kharkiv Hit By Deadly Russian Bombing
5Tank Warfare Plays Crucial Role In Battle For The Donbas
6Estonia Removes Soviet WWII Memorial In Border City
7No Cash, No Medicine: Evacuees From Ukraine's South Recount Life Under Russian Control
8Estonia's Contentious Soviet Monuments
9China Says It Will Send Troops To Russia For Joint Military Drills
10Fit For Fighting: Combat Training For Civilians Now Part Of Ukraine's Wartime Lifestyle
Subscribe