A Russian journalist has died after coming under Russian shelling while filming the destruction of a shopping center in kyiv, becoming at least the fourth journalist to die since the conflict began nearly a month ago.
Oksana Baulina, who previously worked for Russian opposition leader Alexander Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, was killed Wednesday alongside another civilian while covering for independent Russian news site The Insider.
Two other people in the group were injured in the attack, which took place in the Podolsky district of kyiv, the newspaper reported.
“The Insider expresses its deepest condolences to Oksana’s family and friends,” he said.
The publication added: “We will continue to cover the war in Ukraine, including Russian war crimes such as the indiscriminate bombing of residential areas that results in the deaths of civilians and journalists.”
Baulina, 42, began her career working for lifestyle magazines including Time Out Moscow and In Style, but after a decade shifted to more political work, becoming a producer for the Anti- corruption of Alexander Navalny.
She was briefly jailed when Russian police stormed the group’s headquarters where she was coordinating a live broadcast of a nationwide rally.
Baulina left Russia after authorities declared the Anti-Corruption Foundation an “extremist organization” in 2021, but she continued to report for Insider and Coda Story.
After Russia invaded Ukraine a month ago, Baulina filed several reports from Kyiv and Lviv in western Ukraine for Insider.
Sergiy Tomilenko, head of the Ukrainian Journalists Syndicate, confirmed the death in a statement on Facebook, saying Baulina was reporting on the aftermath of a shelling when she was hit by further gunfire.
Oksana was funny, dedicated and extremely brave. She was rebuilding her life in Warsaw after having to flee Russia due to ties to Navalny and was determined to do some serious journalism. Another victim of this horrible senseless mess. https://t.co/fHUYm9PCQA
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) March 23, 2022
Alexey Kovalev, the investigative editor of Russian news site Meduza, based in Latvia, paid tribute to Baulina’s “phenomenal sense of moral clarity”.
“Oksana gave up a successful career in glossy magazines (I first met her at Time Out Moscow in 2006 where she edited the fashion section) to become an opposition activist, human rights activist man, then full-time journalist. Arrested several times, his organization has been declared ‘extremist’,” he tweeted.
Anastasia Karimova, program director at the Foundation for Democratic Development in Washington, tweeted: “The Russian military has killed one of the best people in Russia.”
Vladimir Milov, who worked with her in Navalny’s group, swore to avenge her.
“I will never forget him and to all those responsible for his death, I promise they won’t get away with (only) a trial and verdict,” Milov said on Twitter.
“How unbelievably awful,” wrote Lyubov Sobol, another prominent member of Navalny’s team..
At least three other reporters were killed during the conflict: Brent Renaud, an American filmmaker, Irish cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova. TV news crews described being shot even when they identified themselves as journalists, suggesting they had been targeted on purpose.
A cameraman for a local television station in the besieged southern city of Mariupol was reportedly killed earlier on Wednesday.
