Ukrainian photojournalist Maxim Levin, who died in Ukraine in March, was shot by Russian soldiers. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) wrote about this in their investigation.

RSF officers investigated the murder of Levin and the soldier Alexei Chernyshov accompanying him from May 24 to June 3. They arrived at the place where their bodies were found on 1 April. Levin's charred Ford Maverick stood there, in which journalists found Chernyshov's identity card. The car itself was shot at least 14 times.

According to RSF, this happened on March 13th. Then Levin and Chernyshov were looking for the missing drone of a journalist in the forest occupied by the Russian military. At one point, Levin went deep into the thicket, while Chernyshov remained in the car. All this time they were followed by the Russian military who noticed them. They killed Levin with one or two shots (to the head and chest). Hearing this, Chernyshov got out of the car. The Russian military opened automatic fire on the car, one of the bullets hit Chernyshov. After that, the military burned the car. It is also possible that they burned Chernyshov alive.

Traces of the presence of the Russian military were found not far from the car. These are food packaging and plastic cutlery, which may still contain traces of DNA. RSF analyzed the found evidence and photographs from the crime scene. The journalists established that all of them clearly indicate that Levin and Chernyshov were shot. Before death, both could be interrogated or tortured.