Ukrainian police are searching for two men – including one who is a former police officer in an organized crime unit -- in last summer’s disappearance of Kharkiv journalist Vasyl Klymentiev.
According to the Kharkiv road police website, the pair are Dmitry Uvarov, 32, from Pervomaisk in Kharkiv region and Andriy Kozar, 34, who was born in Pervomaisk, but lives in Kharkiv.
Arrest warrants have been issued for both, who police say are considered to be witnesses and not suspects. However, Uvarov may be armed while Kozar is a former employee of a police unit for counteracting organized crime. He could be using false IDs, authorities said, adding that Kozar is a trained investigator and has connections with law enforcement officers in the Security Service of Ukraine and Interior Ministry.
Klymentiev, chief editor of Novy Styl (New Style) Kharkiv newspaper, disappeared on Aug. 11, 2010, and his whereabouts are still unknown. His colleagues think that his disappearance is due to his professional activities
Kozar may be one of the last people to see Klymentiev, Petro Matvienko, Klymentiev’s deputy editor, said. He said that Kozar approached Klymentiev and offered $10,000 to not publish information about a local prosecutor’s alleged ties to organized crime.
Journalists worldwide have asked President Viktor Yanukovych many times to solve the case. Interior Minister Anatoliy Mohyliov said on Aug. 26 that the case would be directed from Kyiv, since it may involve current and former police officials.
On the morning of Aug. 11, Klymentiev set the alarm system in his apartment and left. Nobody has seen him since. Kharkiv police launched an investigation into possible premeditated murder.
Klymentiev focused his coverage on exposes involving alleged corruption among top-ranked police and prosecutors. “Sometimes, if we had a scoop, we would publish 5,000 cpies, sometimes 3,000,” Matvienko said shortly after the disappearance. Klymentiev also accepted money from people he covered, Matvienko said.
Novy Styl scrutinized Kharkiv officials, including the head of the Kharkiv tax administration, Stanyslav Dennysiuk, and deputy prosecutor Sergiy Khachaturian.
Klymentiev received threats for his work.
Matvienko from the start believed that Klymentiev is dead. “His disappearance, or murder, is definitely related to his job,” Matvienko said. “There are a lot of people out there who were afraid that Klymentiev would disseminate negative information about them.”
Vasyl Klymentiev
