Get ready. Simon from Vice just got kidnapped @RolandOliphant 42m The mayor of Slavyansk & his press sec have confirmed @SimonOstrovsky is in custody in Slavyansk. I was at the presser. http://mashable.com/2014/04/22/vice-journalist-captured-ukraine/#:eyJzIjoidCIsImkiOiJfMTc3ZmhleGs0ZXgzOHpxZSJ9 The "People's mayor" of Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, said that the militia has taken the American journalist, Simon Ostrovsky, hostage, reports a correspondent for Gazeta.ru, Ponomarev announced this during a press conference at the House of Culture in Slavyansk
Damn, I'm gonna be following this one. Doesn't surprise me that there was some backlash from their really egregious reporting of the original Ukraine conflict and even their Sochi coverage.
Vice's reporting on Ukraine in their Russian Roulette videos have been the most unbiased coverage that I have seen on this, covering both sides relatively well.
Holy shit . Literally just watched Dispatch 28, closed the tab and then read this. Hope he's not in too much trouble. He seems like he'd hold up pretty well in a situation like this, especially as he speaks Russian, so let's hope he gets released unharmed soon. He is literally one of the best journalists I've ever had the pleasure of following.
His last tweet from inside the presser was "They said 'you came in as a group, you'll all leave as a group". So no one is sure if that means they'll release the press all together or what. I can only fear that big is going to happen that the media will talk about, but not the extent and detail in which people can be properly informed of the current situation. If this goes beyond the local pro-Russian militia, an attack on the press is a tactical decision, not just a spontaneous act of wanting hostages unless shit got really hairy.
There's the episode of RR a couple back where the Russian Lieutenant Col. is speaking to the local police, even when Russia denies any feet on the ground in Eastern Ukraine. Perhaps he, or other others like him have a hand in it, organizing/training the militias. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTdkY8tl2b0
Wtf. I thought we were on their side. So much for war with russia. Invade ukrain! BLOOOOOD Sent from my LG-E739 using Grasscity Forum mobile app