Statement by YABLOKO Chairman, 14.10.2014

On October 10 a journalist, radio and TV reporter, ex editor-in-chief of the Crimean radio station “Electron” Valeri Donskoy died with pneumonia in Moscow. Valeri had been working in Ukraine for the past months and was captured in Eastern Ukriane at the end of September.

The journalist caught pneumonia and died since he had been kept in cold premises without the necessary medical aid. Valeri Donskoy was the first to report about the scale of the tragedy during the flood in Krymsk. He made daily reports from the damaged town. He interviewed politicians, officials and ordinary citizens who had got into difficulty and gave up hope to get help form anyone.

Valeri Donskoy was an honest and non-indifferent person who had his moral ideals in the first place.

His hard position and denial of censorship actually became a prohibition for him on the journalist job. He had to leave the radio station and work as a freelancer. For now it’s nearly impossible to be a journalist in Russia and find a decent place in the professional field. Valeri will always be an example of courage and dignity for us.

The absence of any reaction in connection with the death of the journalist on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is surprising. We demand from the authorities of Ukraine to open a criminal case and bring all those guilty of the journalist’s death to responsibility.

We express our condolences to Valeri’s friends and relatives.
Never forget!
Sergei Mitrokhin
YABLOKO Chairman