Journalists Killed in 2015 - Motive Confirmed: Serhiy Nikolayev

Segodnya
February 28, 2015, in Peski, Ukraine

Ukrainian photographer Serhiy Nikolayev, who worked for the Kiev-based daily Segodnya, was killed in crossfire while covering fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists in the village of Peski, northeast of the major rebel-controlled city of Donetsk, the news agency Reuters reported. Both sides blamed the other for the death, according to news reports.

Nikolayev had been on assignment with his colleague Bogdan Rossinsky when what appeared to be a mortar shell exploded, according to Segodnya. Rossinsky escaped without serious injury, but Nikolayev died in a hospital, the paper reported.

Nikolayev had worked for Segodnya since April 2008, covering conflict and unrest in Iran, Somalia, and Libya, according to a tribute published by his paper. In 2013, he held an exhibition of his work, focusing on the impact of war on children, titled "A childhood not for children."

In a statement, Segodnya editor-in-chief Olga Guk said of the 43-year-old photographer: "He would go with his camera into the fire so that he could show life as it happened. He did not spare himself. He was the bravest of professionals."