A Russian journalist for investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta has been kidnapped in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, news reports said.
Correspondent Pavel Kanygin was presumably captured overnight in the eastern city of Artemivsk by unknown assailants and taken to Slovyansk, Ekho Moskvy reported Monday.
Correspondent for Ekho Moskvy, Ilya Azar, said Monday on his Twitter account he had received a text message from Kanygin saying: “I have been kidnapped, call Moscow.”
A $1000 ransom fee has reportedly been paid to facilitate Kanygin's release, but the journalist remains out of contact, Azar said.
Novaya Gazeta have declined to comment on the kidnapping, Ekho Moskvy said.
Eastern Ukraine has seen several kidnappings in recent weeks, with a team of OSCE observers and several Western journalists having been taken hostage by separatist militants.
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