Defense Minister Dismisses His Adviser Volunteer Muravskyi

The Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak dismissed the volunteer and photographer Dmytro Muravskyi who used to chair the coordination center in the Department of Communications and Press of the Ministry and was the Minister’s adviser, the Ministerial press office informed.

This decision was explained by the high profile public reaction to his photos. The Ministry reported that Muravskyi was long volunteering and taking photos in the war zone and ‘provided photos to the Ministry for free.’ These photos were used to promote the service in the army rather than provide true account of the hostilities, the Ministry stressed.

In particular, Muravskyi initiated the establishment of coordination center to involve volunteers – photographers, cameramen, painters, scriptwriters and directors – to produce high-quality content about the Armed Forces.

"The Defense Ministry never tried to present Muravskyi’s photos as relating to real hostilities. He made them on his own before being appointed the Minister’s adviser," the Ministry uttered.

"Ukraine has been always observing the uncompromised transparency and accuracy in reporting the war with Russian aggressor," it added.

The fellow photographers claimed recently that Muravskyi’s photos – especially the one made near Mariupol – were staged. They made a public statement condemning such staged photos and calling on to specify whether this is a promo of the Defense Ministry or the Armed Forces.

Explaining his decision to dismiss Muravskyi, Minister Poltorak said he wanted the international community to have no doubts that the hostilities in Donbas were real. Being an adviser to the Minister, Muravskyi represents not only himself but the entire Ministry.

"I appreciate his contribution, but we can’t afford allegations that the facts of Russian aggression are fake. The country’s reputation is key," the Minister highlighted.  

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda