* Status: Confirmed
Lithuanian documentary filmmaker Mantas Kvedaravičius, 45, was killed in the Ukranian city of Mariupol on Saturday April 2 as he was trying to leave the city. He was in Mariupol documenting the ongoing siege by Russian forces. According to his colleague, Russian film director Vitaly Mansky, Kvedaravičius was killed with a camera in his hand. The Ukrainian defence ministry alleged in a statement that Russian forces had killed Kvedaravičius. The Lithuanian prosecutor’s office said that it plans to investigate Kvedaravičius’ killing as part of a larger investigation into Russian war crimes in Ukraine. The city was a main target of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Kvedaravičius is the author of film “Mariupolis”, which premiered in 2016 and depicted everyday life in Mariupol in 2014. The key theme of his films has been the victims of Russia’s aggression from Chechnya to Ukraine. Amnesty International awarded Kvedaravičius’s 2011 film “Barzakh” shot in Chechnya at Berlin International Film Festival. Later reporting confirmed that Kvedaravičius was detained and killed by Russian occupying forces in Mariupol.