© Dmitry Serebryakov/TASS
Inaction on the part of international organizations leads to violence against journalists in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.
"The situation with the safety and favorable working conditions of media representatives in this country have been a matter of deep concern for a long time. Numerous cases of direct or indirect psychological violence against journalists are the result of the appeasement and inaction by specialized international organizations," Zakharova said at a briefing.
Zakharova spoke to reporters three days after police in Kiev said it found the body of Russian journalist Alexander Shchetinin, founder of the Novy Region (New Region) news agency, in his apartment with a gunshot wound to the head. She stressed the need for authorities to investigate Shchetinin's death objectively and transparently.
"We would like to remind you that two years ago, in relation to similar tragic cases... there were no reactions from the OSCE at all. We have been waiting for them, we insisted, we raised this issue," Zakharova pointed out. Shchetinin's death comes a month after Pavel Sheremet, a well-known journalist who had worked in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, was killed when the car he was traveling in exploded in Kiev.
Comment: Further reading: High profile Ukrainian journalist Pavel Sheremet dies in car explosion