51 W 52nd Street
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Morley Safer:
The Committee to Protect Journalists described the contract killing of Ukrainian editor
Borys Derevyanko thusly:
Borys Derevyanko, Vechernyaya Odessa
Date of Death: August 11, 1997
Place of Death: Odessa
Derevyanko, editor in chief of Vechernyaya Odessa, a popular and
influential thrice-weekly newspaper, was fatally shot at point-blank
range on his way to work on the morning of August 11 near the Press
House, where the newspaper's offices are located. Colleagues believe
the killing of Derevyanko, who was editor of Vechernyaya Odessa for 24
years, was related to the newspaper's opposition to the policies of
Odessa's mayor. The chief regional prosecutor declared the murder a
contract killing and launched an official investigation. Local
authorities announced in September that they had arrested a suspect,
described as a professional assassin, who confessed to killing
Derevyanko, but they gave no details about his confession.
I would add that the Odessa mayor which the above account neglects to name was the
corrupt Eduard Hurvits, who was particularly threatened by Borys Derevyanko's opposition
because of municipal elections that were coming up in 1998. The comment concerning the
arrest of an assassin gives a misleading impression - in today's Ukraine, contract
killings are never solved, and those who order them are never punished.
Today, Borys Derevyanko is dead, and Eduard Hurvits, barred by his corruption from
holding the office of mayor of Odessa, continues his criminal career as a member of the
Ukrainian parliament. Photographs of Derevyanko and Hurvits are shown below:
Newspaper editor
Borys Derevyanko
Odessa Mayor
Eduard Hurvits
The table which I began in my letter to you of 30Jun99 can now be elaborated with
another entry:
Date of my letter
Subject of my letter
Date of Attack
Violence that you should have reported in your 23Oct94 The Ugly Face of Freedom
15May99
Who murdered Volodymyr Ivasiuk?
April 1979
30Jun99
Who murdered Vadim Boyko?
February 14, 1992
Violence that you might have caused by your 23Oct94 The Ugly Face of Freedom
09Apr99
Who blew the hands off Maksym Tsarenko?
Summer 1995
17May99