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| Ukraine war: Ex-BBC journalist Bondarenko killed on front line | Ukraine war: Ex-BBC journalist Bondarenko killed on front line |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Friends and colleagues have paid tribute to Sasha Bondarenko's humour, intelligence and big heart | Friends and colleagues have paid tribute to Sasha Bondarenko's humour, intelligence and big heart |
| Former BBC News Ukraine journalist Oleksandr Bondarenko has been killed on duty on the front line in Ukraine. | Former BBC News Ukraine journalist Oleksandr Bondarenko has been killed on duty on the front line in Ukraine. |
| He volunteered for Ukraine's territorial defence at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, working as a communications expert and media trainer and then becoming part of the military. | He volunteered for Ukraine's territorial defence at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, working as a communications expert and media trainer and then becoming part of the military. |
| Details of how he was killed in action are not yet known. | Details of how he was killed in action are not yet known. |
| Close friends said only that "death caught up with him in a battle". | Close friends said only that "death caught up with him in a battle". |
| Friends, former BBC colleagues and Ukraine's wider media community paid tributes to a talented journalist who went on to be a successful communications professional. | Friends, former BBC colleagues and Ukraine's wider media community paid tributes to a talented journalist who went on to be a successful communications professional. |
| Known as Sasha or Sashko, Bondarenko was originally from Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. | Known as Sasha or Sashko, Bondarenko was originally from Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. |
| He worked for the BBC's Ukrainian Service from 2007 to 2011 as a news reporter, presenter and editor of radio programmes broadcast from Kyiv. He left the BBC to work for other media organisations. | He worked for the BBC's Ukrainian Service from 2007 to 2011 as a news reporter, presenter and editor of radio programmes broadcast from Kyiv. He left the BBC to work for other media organisations. |
| At the start of the war Sasha Bondarenko worked as a communications expert and media trainer. | At the start of the war Sasha Bondarenko worked as a communications expert and media trainer. |
| At the start of the war he was in charge of special projects for leading Ukrainian communications agency, RMA, whose staff paid tribute to his intelligence, humour and voice. | At the start of the war he was in charge of special projects for leading Ukrainian communications agency, RMA, whose staff paid tribute to his intelligence, humour and voice. |
| He was one of many thousands of Ukrainians who have left their civilian jobs across all walks of life to defend their country from the Russian invasion. | He was one of many thousands of Ukrainians who have left their civilian jobs across all walks of life to defend their country from the Russian invasion. |
| Among well-known Ukrainians who enlisted were members of one of Ukraine's top rock bands, Antytila, who became army medics, and broadcasters Pavlo Kazarin and Yurii Matsarskyi. | Among well-known Ukrainians who enlisted were members of one of Ukraine's top rock bands, Antytila, who became army medics, and broadcasters Pavlo Kazarin and Yurii Matsarskyi. |
| A number of journalists have lost their lives reporting on the war too. A Ukrainian fixer working with an Italian reporter was killed this week as they came under fire near the southern city Kherson. | A number of journalists have lost their lives reporting on the war too. A Ukrainian fixer working with an Italian reporter was killed this week as they came under fire near the southern city Kherson. |
| Vasyl Samokhvalov of RMA paid tribute to Sasha Bondarenko as a man who volunteered on day one: "A human with a will of steel. A human with the clearest motivation. A human with the best music playlist." | Vasyl Samokhvalov of RMA paid tribute to Sasha Bondarenko as a man who volunteered on day one: "A human with a will of steel. A human with the clearest motivation. A human with the best music playlist." |
| The former head of the BBC's Ukrainian Service, Maciek Bernatt-Reszczynski, said the corporation was extremely lucky to have him on the Kyiv team: "It was always new challenges with this extraordinary man. Including the last, heroic one, to defend his country from aggression." | The former head of the BBC's Ukrainian Service, Maciek Bernatt-Reszczynski, said the corporation was extremely lucky to have him on the Kyiv team: "It was always new challenges with this extraordinary man. Including the last, heroic one, to defend his country from aggression." |
| Bondarenko graduated from Luhansk teacher-training college and started his career in journalism at a local radio station in the east of Ukraine, before working for leading Ukrainian TV channels and and then the BBC's Ukrainian Service. | Bondarenko graduated from Luhansk teacher-training college and started his career in journalism at a local radio station in the east of Ukraine, before working for leading Ukrainian TV channels and and then the BBC's Ukrainian Service. |
| BBC Ukraine's editor-in-chief Marta Shokalo (R) paid tribute to her former colleague | BBC Ukraine's editor-in-chief Marta Shokalo (R) paid tribute to her former colleague |
| "I look at our photos together and can't stop crying even though I can only remember our carefree days in the Kyiv office and how we laughed together," said Marta Shokalo, BBC Ukraine's editor-in-chief. | "I look at our photos together and can't stop crying even though I can only remember our carefree days in the Kyiv office and how we laughed together," said Marta Shokalo, BBC Ukraine's editor-in-chief. |
| He went on to work as a TV reporter, covering the mass Maidan anti-government protests in Kyiv in 2013-14 and later Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. | He went on to work as a TV reporter, covering the mass Maidan anti-government protests in Kyiv in 2013-14 and later Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. |
| As a native of eastern Ukraine his insight of the complexities of Ukraine's relationship with Russia was seen as especially valuable. | As a native of eastern Ukraine his insight of the complexities of Ukraine's relationship with Russia was seen as especially valuable. |
| A keen athlete, he achieved a long-held ambition of swimming the Bosphorus. His last photo published on Facebook was captioned: "Somewhere in the Kharkiv woods." | A keen athlete, he achieved a long-held ambition of swimming the Bosphorus. His last photo published on Facebook was captioned: "Somewhere in the Kharkiv woods." |
| Colleagues described an unpretentious but highly knowledgeable journalist who seemed "brilliant at everything" | Colleagues described an unpretentious but highly knowledgeable journalist who seemed "brilliant at everything" |
| Related Topics | Related Topics |
| Russia-Ukraine war | Russia-Ukraine war |
| BBC | BBC |
| Ukraine | Ukraine |