"Military personnel tell the truth"

A kind, cheerful, bright, crystal—clear honest man and a brilliant professional who always moved forward - these are the qualities that friends and colleagues called when they came to say goodbye to Izvestia correspondent Alexander Fedorchak. He died while fulfilling his professional duty on March 24 while filming a report in the Luhansk People's Republic. Alexander was preparing material about the work of the UAV calculations when a group of reporters was hit by an artillery strike from the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Together with him, employees of the Zvezda TV channel, cameraman Andrei Panov and driver Alexander Sirkeli, died.

"The kindness that was in his materials gave us all hope that everything would be fine."

A farewell ceremony was held in Simferopol for Izvestia correspondent Alexander Fedorchak. It began near the building of the Crimean Broadcasting Company (TRC), where the journalist used to work. His family, friends, journalists from various media outlets, acquaintances and military personnel came to say goodbye to Alexander. The number of people was increasing by the minute — during his short but bright career, he was able to help many people and become a true friend.

The head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, came to say goodbye to Alexander and pay tribute to his memory.

"Alexander died while fulfilling his official and civic duty. He remained a true professional, caring person and patriot to the end. Eternal memory and the Kingdom of Heaven," he later wrote on his Telegram channel.

The day before, Sergey Aksenov posthumously awarded Alexander Fedorchak the Order "For Loyalty to Duty." It was awarded for the impeccable performance of professional duty, courage and heroism shown in extreme situations involving a risk to life.

At the beginning of the farewell ceremony, Mikhail Frolov, the editor-in-chief of Izvestia News Center, said that the work of a military commander is very difficult and important.

"Thanks to the military officers, we will learn the real truth, the trench truth, the combat truth, the truth about the civilians who came under fire and ended up in the occupied territory," he said. — Military personnel tell the truth to everyone, and Sasha did it brilliantly. His materials were always the most daring, vivid, and crystal-clear. They were filled with sincere kindness, among other things. Sometimes, looking at him and his stand-ups, it seemed that it was not clear at all what this kind guy was doing there in a bulletproof vest, khaki uniform and helmet, which sometimes fell off on one side. It seemed that he just came from another world, but this kindness that was in his materials gave us all hope that everything would be fine.

Mikhail Frolov promised that the Izvestia News Center's journalism team would continue Alexander's work.

"The only thing I can say for myself is, 'I'm sorry we didn't save him,'" he said.

"It always seems that Sasha is somewhere at the front right now"

In front of Alexander's coffin lay a bulletproof vest, a helmet, microphones of Izvestia and the Krym radio station — the 28-year-old journalist worked in these media outlets for most of his career.

The journalists remembered what Alexander was like.

Sanya was a real person and a friend, he always helped, recalls Vladislav Kharchenko, a correspondent for Izvestia.

"During the time that we talked, I never once told him that he was my friend," he said. — It's only when you lose really close people that you realize that you don't have to wait, you always have to talk about your feelings. He was loud and funny, bright, and that's how I'll always remember him.

We have another grief, another loss, said Izvestia correspondent Valentin Trushnin.

— A young guy from Crimea immediately joined the combat work. He kept asking for business trips to his military area, and while there, he tried by any means to get as close as possible to the front line," Trushnin said.

Alexander was a man with a capital letter, Stanislav Bernwald, correspondent of the Rossiya-24 TV channel, is sure.

—Kind, bright," he recalls. — A wonderful person, a great professional, and, of course, this is a loss for our entire workshop, it's hard to lose friends. Another distinctive feature of him is his hunger for knowledge, he always wanted to develop. I watched his stories — he was a man who was progressing, moving forward.

Alexander spent a lot of time in the war and saw a lot, but it didn't change him, said Stanislav Vasilchenko, a military correspondent for Rossiya-24.
— Sasha miraculously kept so much light and goodness in himself. It's a pity when such young, promising guys leave," Vasilchenko said.

Vadim Pervikh, General Director of the Krym shopping mall and chairman of the Crimean branch of the Union of Journalists of Russia, remembered Alexander as optimistic and cheerful.

— I was always ready to take on any job, for complex projects. He was "for any kipish," as he himself said, — said the First.

Emilia worked with Alexander at a TV and radio company in Crimea.

"He came to us as a student with a fire in his eyes that you rarely see," she said. — That's how I remember him. I will always remember his kindness and his desire to help. He was also very motivated and achieved a lot.

Alexander was a funny guy who literally laughed at this feeling of others, recalls his colleague Maria Grobovenko.

"It always seems to me that Sasha is filming his reports somewhere at the front," she said. — He is remembered in all the teams. He was simple, not self-important, and even in times of panic and stress, he always said: "Let's break through!" He was one of the first to volunteer for the front. First with humanitarian aid, then I worked with fighters. He understood that this was his place.

He was an incredibly brave, talented and funny guy, says NTV correspondent Ilya Lyadvin.

— I didn't lose my positive attitude even in the worst conditions. Arrivals, drones — he was always strong and cheerful," Lyadvin said.

Alexander's funeral service was held in the Church of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. He was buried at the Nizhnegorsky city cemetery to the sounds of a military band and farewell volleys of military fireworks.

The memory of journalists

The death of Alexander Fedorchak in the SVO zone became known on March 24. He worked in the Luhansk People's Republic and in the Kharkiv region in the Kupyansk area, covering the actions of units of the Russian army.

Andrey Panov, a cameraman for the Zvezda TV channel, and Alexander Sirkeli, the driver of the film crew, were killed along with him. Two days later, on March 26, Anna Prokofieva, a military correspondent for Channel One, was killed while performing her professional duty in the Belgorod Region, and Dmitry Volkov, a cameraman, was also injured.

After the deaths of the military officers, the UN Secretary General's office said they opposed the killing of journalists and believed that "an investigation is needed" into these facts. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay condemned the murder of Alexander Fedorchak, Andrei Panov and Alexander Sirkeli by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A corresponding statement was published on the organization's website on March 27. A criminal case has been opened in the Investigative Committee of Russia into the deaths of journalists.