September 19, 2014
Appeal by the Board of the Kharkiv Oblast Organization of the Journalists’ Union of Ukraine
Kharkiv journalists are concerned about the disappearance of Luhansk journalist Oleksandr Belokobylskyi. On September 13, Oleksandr left Kharkiv for Luhansk. He made it to Starobelsk. He then went by bus to Luhansk to deliver medicine to several friends and family. Relatives of the journalist say they were able to call all the locations Oleksandr had planned to visit, but he did not make it to any of them. The latest known is that Oleksandr last called relatives on September 13, around 3 p.m., in Novoaidar, when the bus driver stopped to fill up on gas. According to insider information, Oleksandr is being held hostage.
Oleksandr Belokobylskyi worked for a number of local and Ukrainian publications. He and his wife and child had to leave Luhansk for safe territory in Kharkiv when the city came under artillery fire.
We ask the Security Services of Ukraine and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to do everything in their power to find our colleague.
The Board of the Kharkiv Oblast Organization of the Journalists’ Union of Ukraine
