Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Pro-Russian Separatists Admit Detaining Jewish Journalist in Eastern Ukraine

Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday confirmed they are detaining a U.S. journalist working with Vice News.

The self-declared separatist mayor of Slaviansk told reporters the journalist, Simon Ostrovsky, had been detained for reporting what he said was false information that was “destabilising for us” but that he was being treated well.

Mayor Vyacheslav Ponomaryov attempted to joke about the situation.

“There’s nothing wrong with Ostrovsky. He is with us, he is feeling well and in a clean place. He is not a hostage but our guest. We only gave him a place of residence.”

Gunmen detained Ostrovsky on Monday night along with other reporters who have since been released.

Vice News has said on its website that it is in contact with the U.S. State Department and other government authorities to work toward securing the safety of its journalist.

The self-declared separatist mayor of Slaviansk told reporters the journalist, Simon Ostrovsky, had been detained for reporting what he said was false information that was “destabilising for us” but that he was being treated well.

Mayor Vyacheslav Ponomaryov attempted to joke about the situation.

“There’s nothing wrong with Ostrovsky. He is with us, he is feeling well and in a clean place. He is not a hostage but our guest. We only gave him a place of residence.”

Gunmen detained Ostrovsky on Monday night along with other reporters who have since been released.

Vice News has said on its website that it is in contact with the U.S. State Department and other government authorities to work toward securing the safety of its journalist.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki expressed deep concern at the kidnapping of the U.S. journalist and condemned the taking of any hostages in eastern Ukraine.

“We call for their immediate release and call on Russia to use its influence to ensure they area freed immediately,” Psaki said at a news briefing in Washington.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.