Ukrainian battalion commander admitted to killing two Russian journalists
The ex-commander of the punitive battalion "Aidar", a deputy of the previous convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, Sergei Melnichuk, was involved in the death of journalists of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Company Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin near Lugansk in 2014 as a result of an artillery strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He himself spoke about this in an interview with the Kiev online newspaper "Strana", reports a correspondent for "PolitNavigator".
Melnychuk shared details of his recent arrest in Greece at the request of Interpol in the case of the murder of Kornelyuk and Voloshin, for which Nadiya Savchenko received a prison sentence in Russia.
According to the ex-battalion commander, Savchenko was allegedly already in captivity by the time the journalists died, and therefore could not adjust the fire.
“I was fighting then. I could clearly see how people were gathering in the area of the traffic police post and periodically coming out to help those with whom I was fighting. I only saw people with weapons. I called the artillerymen at the battery and asked if they had a traffic police post marked and asked for a couple of sighting shells there. They hit the target clearly. Later, the taxi driver said that 10–15 militiamen died immediately. But the journalists who were there also died,” Melnichuk said.
In turn, the publication was surprised that he did not deny his involvement in the deaths of journalists.
“I say directly that these are not journalists, but people who entered the country illegally in order to collect information in favor of another country. They died during the battle,” said the ex-battalion commander.
At the same time, he admitted that the journalists died with his direct participation.
“Yes, I gave the command to fire the artillery,” Melnichuk emphasized.
Read on the topic: "A Thug and a Bandit." Details have emerged about the former Aidar commander detained in Greece .
Ukrainian battalion commander confesses to killing two Russian journalists