For Pro-Russia Militants, Ukraine's Journalists Are Bargaining Chips

KIEV, Ukraine — With tears running down his cheeks, Ukrainian photojournalist Yevhen Hapych tells a nightmare of a story about the time he and his brother were kidnapped and subjected to psychological and physical torture.

“They [the captors] filled our ears with cotton, blindfolded us with a thick bandage. We could hear something, but saw nothing. We were placed on the floor of the car. It was like a police car, because it had a siren,” Hapych told Ukrainian news station TSN in an emotional interview just after the two were released last Friday

Hapych, who is from western Ukraine, said one of the kidnappers threatened to stab him to death, telling him: “With this knife I’ve sent so many to the light.” Read more...