(KIEV, Ukraine) — Authorities in Ukraine say the body of a kidnapped journalist who played an active role in protests that led to President Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster in February has been found in a forest some 150 kilometers (60 miles) outside the capital, Kiev.
Cherkassk province prosecutors said Sunday that Vasily Sergiyenko was abducted in his home city of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi on Friday evening and later murdered.
The nationalist Svoboda party, of which Sergiyenko was a member, said the reporter was found with stab wounds and signs of beatings to his head and knees.
Svoboda said the killing bears the hallmarks of a politically motivated hit.
The party, whose leader Oleh Tyahnybok is running in the May 25 presidential election, said Sergiyenko and other Svoboda representatives had received threats over the past week.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com