* Status: Confirmed
Freelance photojournalist and documentary filmmaker Maks Levin went missing near the village of Huta-Mezhyhirska in the Kyiv region. The journalist’s friend and colleague Markiian Lyseiko and ex-wife Inna Varenytsia spoke about Levin’s disappearance. On March 13, Levin drove to Huta-Mezhyhirska to cover clashes between Russian forces and Ukrainians, left his car there, and headed to the nearby village of Moshchun, according to those reports. He was not seen since leaving Huta-Mezhyhirska. Varenytsia told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that Ukrainian forces had granted Levin permission to report from that area. She said his phone last appeared online at 11:23am on the day of his disappearance. According to her, Russian troops were fighting in the area at the time of Levin’s disappearance. Levin covered Russia’s invasions of Ukraine since 2014. He contributed to Reuters, the BBC, The Associated Press, and other international outlets, according to Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform. Levin was found dead on April 1 near the village of Guta Mezhygirska. He had been shot twice. A subsequent investigation by Reporters without Borders (RSF) found that Levin had been “executed in cold blood” by Russian forces.