One Year Since Journalist Andrei Stenin Was Murdered in Ukraine While Covering the Conflict in Donbass

One year ago, on the 5th of Agust 2014, Russian journalist Andrei Stenin and tens of other civilians were killed. Below is my translation of a Russian article, where a female local witness sheds more light on the circumstances of Stenin’s murder and the chronology of the event is reconstructed. The original article in Russian can be read at RIA.ru site.


A year after the death of photojournalist of the international news agency “Russia Today”, Andrei Stenin, in Donbass, the picture of the tragedy became more complete. Witnesses of the events told RIA Novosti what occurred near the village of Dmitrovka in those days. Back then, as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian security forces, dozens of civilians were killed, most of them still remain unidentified.

A terrible equation with many unknowns

From the set go, there were a lot of mysteries in the case of disappearance of Stenin and his friends from the newssite Icorpus.ru Andrei Vyachal and Sergei Korenchenkov. The last time they had contact, was on August 5, 2014 from Snezhnoe (translator: mean “Snowy” in Russian. Note that all villages there have Russian names) (80 kilometers east of Donetsk). In the city headquarters of the militia, the journalists said they were going to go south, to the village of Dmitrovka on the Russian-Ukrainian border – there was fighting going og there, the army and the National Guard tried to surround DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and cut off the Republic from Russia. Journalists could shoot some footage there. However they did not seem to reach Dmitrovka – at least, the head of its headquarters with the call sign “Poet” did not see them.

Stenin’s, Vyachal’s and Korenchenkov’s phones and did not respond. A few days later, the adviser to the Interior Minister, Anton Gerashchenko, said the photojournalist of “Russia Today” was detained by the security forces. The fact that signal from Stenin’s phone was detected in Slavyansk – 160 kilometers north-west of the Snezhnoe gave plausibility to Gerashchenko’s words – after the retreat of militia, Slavyansk was turned into the headquarters of the military operation. On the 8th of August, everyone who phoned him, received and SMS that the subscriber is available again. There was hope that Stenin was alive, even if in captivity.

But then Anton Gerashchenko denied his words, that only increased the confusion and suspicion. Soon, one of Stenin’s friends managed to get through to his number. A strange voice responded, presenting itself as a Ukrainian military. “This phone came to me by chance, through a third party. It’s owner is dead, he’s near Stepanovka. Come, take the body,” – said the stranger.

Stepanovka is located eight kilometers from Dmitrovka and about 20 kilometers from the real place of Stenin’s death. A local would never say that it’s nearby. But for newcomers, such as the military from other regions of Ukraine, it is really very close.


Today’s view of the place where Stenin was killed.

“He’s ‘Beard’ and I’m ‘Beard'”

RIA Novosti correspondent managed to find a volunteer militia fighter, who saw Stenin with colleagues in Dmitrovka on the evening of August the 5th. This is a local resident with the call sign ‘Beard’, who a year ago fought under the command of ‘Poet’. ‘Beard’ testifies: the guys came from Snezhnoe, but didn’t go into Dmitrovka further than DPR’s checkpoint.

Armed forces tried back then to surround Dmitrovka – it is one of the key settlements near the Russian border. Apparently, the journalists were afraid to be surrounded and drove back to Snezhnoe. No one knew that by being surrounded you could still be saved, but the road back would be deadly.

“Serge ‘Greek’ (militia – Ed.) then came out of Snezhnoe, ate. The journalists then came together with them, we saw them.” – ‘Beard’ suggests while browsing portraits of Andrei Stenin on a pad.

“I remember him well. He’s – beard, and I’m beard, militiaman is laughing. – Especially since I saw him before in Kozhevnja (translator: means “tannery” in Russian) (another town on the border, where there also were intense battles – Ed.).

Stenin, Korenchenko and Vyachal did not know that the situation, as so often happens on the front, changed dramatically over a few hours. The road by which they have arrived safely to Dmitrovka, was already under the control of armed forces.


Lilija and Kostja Filjushins were wounded at the same time as Stenin, but survived.

NatsGuard was shelling and refused to help

“Nazigs (local reference to National Guard fighters – Ed.) appeared here in the evening of the fifth (August). Immediately they shelled the wheat field so that it caught fire – a villager from Rassypnoe (translator: means “scattered” in Russian) recalls Stenin’s death. – They went from home to home, told everyone to sit quietly. You can eat burdocks, but remain sitting in the cellars – they said.”

Taking control of the road between Snezhnoe and Dmitrovka, security forces started firing at all the passing cars. They did not inspect, dis not hinder the passage, simply fired at them.

On the 6th of August Vladimir Zolotous and his wife Maria went from Dmitrovka to Snezhnoe to pick up her daughter and grandchildren. Snezhnoe was already de-facto surrounded. Two weeks before the city was struck by an airstrike – 13 people were killed. Then in a nearby town of Shahtersk (translator: means “Miner’s Town” in Russian) street battles began (Stenin filmed them), and on August the 4th Ukrainian security forces opened fire from Snezhnoe using “Smerch” (multiple reactive rocket launcher). Daughter asked Zolotous’ to pick them out of the horrible city and take them to Russia. However, it turned out that the real danger was awaiting not the residents of Snezhnoe, but their would-be rescuers.

“Early in the morning we went to Snezhnoe. My husband did not want to go, as if knowing what would happen to us. He said: let’s not go! It’s not far away from here, so I convinced him – says Maria Zolotous. – Once we came up onto a hill (near Rassypnoe – Ed.), bullets suddenly started punching into the car. The first bullet hit her husband. He turned off the road into a ditch. And only said, “Run!”.


A cross at the spot where Vladimir Zlatous was killed and his wife wounded

And then a miracle happened: the door of the old “Lada”, which is always jammed (Vladimir always open it from the outside, so Mary could sit) opened instantly. Mary, whose legs were hit by bullets, burst outside.

“Guys, do not shoot! We are a peaceful people!” – Shouted Maria to the soldiers. “And she dares saying something,” – they responded and shot at the car from a grenade launcher. Injured woman crawled to the village.

“I saw a car there. Later, when watching news on TV, I realized that that was Stenin’s car. Then, of course, there was no time to look at it. I only remember that the car was already burning. And I did not see whether there were people in it” – said Maria.

“Two soldiers sat in the bushes – she continues her story. – I told them I was wounded, help me!”. “We have no medicines, crawl into the village, there is help,” – said the military. Already crawling away, Mary heard one say to the other: “What is in her bag? Why did you not check and let her go.”

Gotsutsovs family sheltered Mary in Rassypnoe. The woman lived for six days in their basement, so as not to become a victim of shelling – they did wound dressings and pain was relived by simple Analgin. A week later, Zolotous relatives were able to negotiate with the military so that her son in law would come and fetch her. The woman was taken for treatment in Russia.

Like in the movies about the Nazis and partisans

Sudakov family was less fortunate – both spouses were killed in the massacre, common cleaner and a driver of the village administration. It happened the day after the death of Stenin and Zolotous, August the 7th. “Dmitrovka was shelled the day before – recalls their son Denis. – Our whole family was hiding in the basement, but my mother did not make it in time. She was wounded by shrapnel.”


Denis Sudakov at the grave of his parents, who died at the same spot as Stenin

In spite of the continued shelling, Denis’ father, a 50-year-old Vladimir Sudakov, decided to take his wife to the hospital in Snezhnoe. On the way, they were ambushed and killed on the spot. But Dennis learned about it only a few days later. “We have not had any news from them. They did not reach Snezhnoe. I called all the hospitals – even on the Russian side. They were seen nowhere.”- says Sudakov Jr.

In mid-August, when the road was unblocked, Denis found there a burnt-out car of his parents and their remains. “My mother was lying in the back seat just like I put her. Rather everything that was left of her. I collected the remains and buried them,”- he said.

It is difficult to answer what was the tactical meaning of this brutal massacre, which lasted several days. Perhaps the security forces did not want anyone to even travel along this road, and that DPR would remained blockaded. Maybe they were afraid of a surprise attack by the militia. At least six of the militia, including Sergey “Greek”, who arrived with Stenin in Dmitrovka, were also killed at Rassypnoe.

“On the 7th of August, at 04:00 in the morning, we went in a column to Snezhnoe and came under fire near Rassypnoe – says another militia fighter, Vladimir Berezov, who was wounded, but managed to escape. – We were under heavy crossfire, the car tire was shot through, we were thrown into a ditch. We abandoned the car and retreated through the “greens”. I was wounded by a bullet – shattered ankle. We decided that I would stay in the village, while the rest will go for help.”

“Vladimir crawled to us, I hid him,” – says a local resident Galina Bulygin. But soon Nazguards came searching for wounded militia.

“Beryozov hid behind the house, in a cornfield. They searched the house, walked through the area. They asked whether we saw any DPR’ers. I felt like in some movie about Nazis and partisans – says Bulygin. – They found his bunk in the basement and asked who sleeps on it. I told them that it’s my husband’s, that he is sick, and the bed is in the basement, so that not to go down every time the shelling starts.” Nazguards went away.


Personal file of Ljudmila Sudakova, who was killed at the same time as Stenin

Accurate lists of the killed are still unavailable

Stenin’s, Vyachalo’s and Korenchenkov’s car was only found on August the 20th. It was identified by two professional lenses, burned in the trunk. Camera’s body itself was not in the car – we can assume that it had been taken with the mobile phone, which was then “heard” in Slavyansk.

To one side of the car there lay unopened vials of painkillers, which the professional war correspondent Stenin always carried with him, and his expensive Italian red plaid shirt with rolled up sleeves. Again photographer’s friends started to get hope that he is alive. But the results of the examination were ruthless: the charred remains in the car belonged to Stenin, Vyachalo and Korenchenkov.

But here’s another mystery: there were remains of two more people in the car. Who are these people and how did they appear in the car, were they riding along with the journalists or were they thrown in to burn all together – it is still not known.

In total, about 20 cars were shot at near Rassypnoe in those days – some died on the spot, some managed to escape. On the 6th of August, the locals and relatives of the victims gathered at this terrible place, to commemorate all victims of the tragedy. They want to put on this place a memorial with the names of all the victims. But their exact list is still being constructed, says the head of the local village administration Oleg Harichkov.

Some of the remains were buried by the compassionate locals – in mass graves. Some took relatives with them. For example, the remains of Vladimir Zolotous are buried in two places – part of the remains were collected by the relatives of his wife in Dmitrovka, then the rest that could be recovered, was taken away by the relatives to the city of Shahtersk.

This case is still waiting for its investigation. Someday, perhaps, the names of the actual perpetrators of the massacre will be announced.

“Everyone has a grudge against Ukraine”
How teachers and workers become militias

The article below is a translation from Russian of the following article, published in “Argumenty i Fakty” on the 1st of October 2014.


“They know that that have no common road with the Ukrainians. Truce or no truce, but they will not live together,” – said a journalist from Chelyabinsk Gennady Grigoryev.

Journalist from Chelyabinsk Gennady Grigoryev served in the militia of Donetsk People’s Republic for more months. And came back and told about his impressions.

“You want to serve in the reconnaissance?”

It’s pretty simple to join the militia. I bought the tickets and gear – camouflage suit, arrived in Donetsk, Rostov region. There I called the appointed number, told my passphrase – people came, and brought me across the border. We got to the base, where recruits were picked by the commanders. They told me: “Do you want to serve in the reconnaissance?” I replied: “What kind of spy can become of me?” And they said, “Let’s come and see.”

We had no training centres or special training or basic training. Yesterday’s workers, teachers, miners, chauffeurs go strait to battle. Among 80 people we had only one professional soldier, and even that was a ensign. I was given a shotgun and so I became a scout.

It was funny when we came to receive a certificate of being a member of militias. We enter, and there naturally a scene from a movie “Chapaev”: one Ataman sits in Cossack uniform, besides another bearded one and in a strange garb. Hovering over the map, mulling operation. Just potatoes, like in “Chapaev”, are not laid out… Later, by the way, I learned that one of these fellows was executed as a traitor. On captured Ukrainians they found the lists of the Ukrainian militis members under the responsibility of this particular person. And in Ukraine there is a new law, when a man goes to the militia, Kiev has the right to confiscate an apartment or any property from his family (from translator: this confiscated property gets transferred as war trophies to the “banderas”, the members of the punitive death squads who conduct ethnic cleansing in Donbass).

“Sitting on the button”

Service in the scouts looks like this. For example, say, in a certain direction there can be some enemy equipment, it would be necessary to check out. At night, people go up and go into the forest, study the trails. The road can be mined, and ours have been blown to bits many times. There can be an possible behind trees. Terrible suspence! There were cases when the two scout militias were in the same place and shooting at each other, taking the other group for the enemy. Their actions were just not coordinated…

But in general, this war – like, probably any other – for at least 95% consists of the rough work and routine. You walk from task to task – not having time eat nor sleep. Once such task: “sit on the button”, for example. Let’s say the road is mined and we know that a Ukrainian tank or any heavy machinery will follow it. Your task is to sit, wait, and at the right time to connect wiring so the car explodes. Many do not come back from this tasks. You should see and to make sure that this is the enemy, and that he is over a mine. It’s fine if it’s a tank. And if it’s a multiple rocket launchers “Grad”… The explosion shatters it half a kilometre in radius and covers anyone who is sitting nearby. I can say I was lucky that I did not make contact while “sitting on the button” for 15 hours in a row.

Of the 80 people there were only four Russians: a former sports functionary, cabinetmaker, teacher and me. There was another guy from Novosibirsk, but he was expelled for drunkenness. For such case one can be shot. The militia enacts dry law, and rightly so, everyone agrees. Even without vodka there are enough problems. Many can not even handle weapons. We had one minethrower who was a driver or seller. He took the mortar for the first time, stuffed two mines in the trunk, the gun burst, and the whole squad was killed… There’re a lot of such losses.

By the way, about the weapons: my first shotgun was a 1954 release. I’ve seen people who are fighting with antitank gun, which is stamped with 1943. After the rifle I was given a sniper rifle without optical sight. Terribly uncomfortable when you need to traverse the greenery. Then they gave me an automatic, with which it was more convenient. Recently everything was OK with the weapon supplies. It arrived new, with lubrication.

Militias take products from the warehouse and warehouses were replenished by humanitarian aid. Local people are also trying to help – bring potatoes, pickles. Clothing allowance is as follows: the majority of clothes is that you initially put on, and that’s all. Wash ing is easy: jump into the pond in the clothing in a pond, climb out, lather and dive in again. You wash yourself, and do the laundry in one go. Good that it was warm in August.

Ukrainian army, admittedly, is fighting quite competently. It feels that officers supervise it. Their outfit is also better. Once we got the trophy – a car with anti-aircraft guns. Inside we found everything: good uniform, mats, sharpened sapper shovels, well, all sorts of stuff – even some American marching washstand for 20 gallons of water. This is a suspended plastic bag with a tap – all is cultural and written in English.

“We did not call them”

What is militia fighting for? They believe in building a state Novorossia from Kharkov to Odessa. They know that that have no common road with the Ukrainians. Truce or no truce, but they will not live together. Besides long-term controversy now everyone already has a personal grudge against Ukraine: someone has relative that had to leave, killed, maimed, something destroyed. How will they live together – I can not imagine… Yes, these people are hardly amenable to discipline, they are used to doing everything by themselves, thinking: our little detachment’ll get to Kiev if only allowed. They were beaten badly in May, they retreated, losing comrades, crossed rivers in just pants and with a gun… But faith keeps them going, they do not doubt in their victory.

Civilians are certainly tired of war. But the attitude is: “We did not call them (Ukrainian army) here. We will live on our own, don’t want to feed Ukraine any longer”. They hope that the war will end and Russia will help to restore everything.

In the cities, when I was there, anarchy reigned. No police, no prosecution, courts, cops… However, public transport went like clock – in the empty city empty trolleybusses! As if you got into some looking glass kingdom. When I returned to Russia, at first everything was surprising: beautiful cars go about, the houses are intact, kids eating ice cream, people go and do not bend down from the shots. And it went just a hundred meters from the border…