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RFE/RL Reporter Abducted, Warned in Crimea


Ukraine - Crimea Republic map, undated
Levko Stek, a correspondent for RFE/RL's Ukraine service, was briefly abducted on March 17 by gunmen in Bakhchysaray in Crimea.

He was later released.

Stek was reporting on assignment, recording interviews with Ukrainian servicemen at the military base.

When he boarded a minivan to leave the base, he was approached by unidentified gunmen already in the vehicle. They handcuffed him, put a bag over his head and forced him into the backseat of a car, and then drove him some distance to a field and deposited him there.

Stek was not injured, but he was told not to return to Crimea again.

The men removed Stek's telephone SIM card and video memory cards, but took no equipment.
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