[citation needed] A Ukrainian military pilot, Nadiya Savchenko, who served as instructor with a volunteer infantry unit, Aidar Battalion, was taken prisoner by the rebel forces at the LPR territory, brought to Russia and convicted to 22 years of imprisonment for allegedly directing the mortar fire and illegal crossing of the Russian border.
It has been claimed that both men were wearing camouflage at the time, in contravention of journalistic norms when reporting in warzones, which may have led to them being incorrectly marked as soldiers.
[13] Kornelyuk worked alongside Anton Voloshin, reporting on events taking place during the pro-Russian conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
[21] After the event, the Russian prosecutors charged Ukrainian army aviation helicopter pilot Nadiya Savchenko (sometimes transliterated as Nadezhda) for assisting in the deaths of Igor Kornelyuk and Anton Voloshin.
[22][23] Despite having an alibi (she was captured by the rebels one hour before the mortar attack occurred according to billing data of mobile phones[24]), she is accused of informing Ukrainian Forces of the location of the journalists.
[28] Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE representative on freedom of the media, stated in response to the event, "This death is yet another horrid reminder that not enough is being done to protect journalists who risk their lives reporting from conflict zones in Ukraine".
[30] Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, on 19 June 2014, denounced the killing of Russian journalist Igor Kornelyuk and sound engineer Anton Voloshin.
I call on all parties to respect the civilian status of journalists and let them carry out their important professional activities in safe conditions in keeping with the Geneva Convention and its Protocols.