News.Kyiv.Me.

Graham Phillips was last seen attempting to go to the airport of Donetsk where there was intense fighting, but has had no contact with RT since the early hours of Wednesday.

Some reports say he has been taken prisoner.

McDonald had contact with Phillips on Tuesday night, just before he went missing. He says he is definitely alive – “that’s been confirmed by the Kyiv authorities to the British foreign office in London and the embassy in Kyiv.”

However, it’s not known where he is, and whether he is being held by Ukrainian regular forces or “what we might call irregular forces,” says McDonald.

Phillips was previously detained in Mariupol by Ukrainian government forces but was later released.

The other three people in the group who were reported missing are believed to be ANNA news agency’s cameraman, a press officer from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), and an acquaintance of Phillips.

“Our cameraman, Vadim, was working in the epicentre of the fighting, RT’s stringer was next to him,” ANNA news agency reported.

The agency cites anonymous sources, saying the group of four was taken hostage by Ukrainian troops.

McDonald says there is growing speculation that Phillips may be in Ukrainian captivity. “I’ve been told by numerous western journalists – British, Spanish, German – that there are militias operating in the area on both sides, but there is serious evidence emerging that miitias such as Right Sector may be doing the work of the Ukrainian national guard in the area and I would be fearful if Graham were in their care, so to speak.”

Asked if he thinks there’s a chance he’s being held by the rebels, he says: “No, I don’t. The simple fact is that the Ukrainian government, which aspires to be a European government, is detaining not just Graham – a British national – but also Russian and Ukrainian journalists. The press safety index shows that Ukraine is now the most dangerous place in the world to work – including Syria.”

McDonald says Phillips would have been unwelcome in Ukraine because he was a stringer for a Russian outlet; RT’s Spanish team was refused entry, as were other Russian media journalists, even those who are Ukrainian citizens. “I’m sure there are people on the anti-Kyiv side who would like to shut up a lot of the western journalists who’ve been against, them, but they don’t go so far as to detain them, except for the episode with Simon Ostrovksy of Vice News, who was arrested by both sides – first by the rebel militia and then by pro-Kyiv forces.”

“Poroshenko has been in power for 6-7 weeks. He’s signed a trade agreement with the EU and he aspires to be a European leader. European values do not include the detaining of nationals of EU countries, or the detaining of journalists simply because you don’t like what they report.”

Russia calls for journalists’ release

The Russian foreign ministry said the detained journalists must be released at once. “According to our information, they are held by the Ukrainian authorities,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that it demands “the immediate release” of the captives.

Militia in the region said they were going to check reports that allege the journalists had been seized by pro-Kyiv Ukrainian Guard troops.
“It is news to me. I cannot confirm it yet. Will be checking,” said Alexander Boroday, a leader and commander of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in a phone comment to RIA Novosti.

According to the DPR press service, RT’s British stringer Graham Phillips with a group of journalists that travelled to a combat zone around Donetsk airport where there was shooting on Tuesday night .

He reportedly attempted to approach the positions of pro-government forces together with a colleague of his. After a while, the second journalists called the reporters who stayed behind in a car and told them that “Graham was taken [prisoner].” He said he was hiding inside a supermarket nearby.

In May, Phillips was arrested at a checkpoint near the flashpoint city of Mariupol on Tuesday and was transferred to Zaporozhye where he spent the night in detention, according to RT.

(VoR, RT, RIA Novosti)