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Remembering Maksym Levin, a Ukrainian photojournalist killed in conflict

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Since he was 15, Maksym Levin dreamed of being a photographer. The Ukrainian grew up to work as a photojournalist for many Western outlets - including Reuters, the Associated Press, the BBC - and for publications in his own country. He'd covered Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, saying at the time, quote, "Every Ukrainian photographer dreams of taking a photo that will stop the war."

In mid-March, while he was reporting on Russia's invasion from within combat zones near Kyiv, his loved ones lost contact with him. Yesterday, Ukraine's prosecutor general said Maksym Levin's body was found north of the city, unarmed and outfitted with a press jacket. A statement from that office says the 40-year-old's death is being investigated, but added that Russian forces fired the shots that killed him. Levin is at least the sixth journalist to die in Ukraine since the war began just over five weeks ago. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Ayesha Rascoe is a White House correspondent for NPR. She is currently covering her third presidential administration. Rascoe's White House coverage has included a number of high profile foreign trips, including President Trump's 2019 summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, and President Obama's final NATO summit in Warsaw, Poland in 2016. As a part of the White House team, she's also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast.