SBU did not detain Russian journalist, who died after allegedly being held captive in Eastern Ukraine

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) did not detain the Russian journalist Valeriy Donskoy, who, according to Russian media outlets, got captured in the East of Ukraine, and does not possess information about his stay in Ukraine. SBU gave such a response to IMI’s request about capturing or detention on the Ukrainian-Russian border of the Russian radio host and journalist Valeriy Donskoy.

IMI sent this request to SBU because the website of the Russian “Novaia Gazeta” published a piece that the Russian radio host and journalist Valeriy Donskoy on September 20, 2014, went to the East of Ukraine and got captured. It was said that he spent five days in captivity in some metal bunker and then returned to Moscow, where he died in a hospital of pneumonia and was buried on October 15). But this piece gave no mentions of where he was captured or where he was kept.

According to SBU, Donskoy did not obtain an accreditation to work in the ATO zone; he was not detained or investigated by SBU.