Mourning Rally In Memory Of Rossiya Segodnya Photo-Correspondent Stenin Held In Donbas

DONETSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2020) A mourning rally marking the anniversary of the death of Rossiya Segodnya International news Agency photojournalist Andrei Stenin was held on Thursday near the town of Snizhne in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, where the reporter was killed.

The 33-year-old photo-correspondent died in Ukraine's east on August 6, 2014, as the car he was traveling in came under shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces fighting against Donbas militias. Over 10 cars with civilians were destroyed in the shelling, and only several people managed to survive, according to the Russian Investigative Committee.

"Today a mourning event was held in the vicinity of the town of Snizhne in memory of Rossiya Segodnya photojournalist Andrei Stenin and other war correspondents who died with him. The event was attended by over 50 people," a representative of a local NGO told Sputnik.

According to the representative, Stenin has become a symbol of courage for pupils of the local school named after him.

In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military offensive against the self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk, which declared their independence following what they considered to be a coup in Ukraine in February 2014. According to the UN figures, over 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict.