A Ukrainian photojournalist who worked for several major Western media outlets, including Reuters and the BBC, was killed in an attack by Russian forces near Kyiv, Ukraine’s attorney general’s office said Saturday.

The body of Maksym (Maks) Levin, who had captured the ongoing conflict, was found with two gunshot wounds in the Vyshgorod district, which lies just north of the capital, the Attorney General’s office said in a post from Facebook, citing the introduction. report.

“According to preliminary information, soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces killed the unarmed Maksym Levin with two shots,” he said. His next of kin have been notified, the office told CNN.

Photographer Markiian Lyseiko told CNN that he was last in contact with his friend, known as Maks, on March 12, the day before he went missing in the northern district of Kyiv where he had reported fighting and the flight of civilians.

In their last conversation, Lyseiko said that Max had asked her to come to the Ukrainian capital so that they could cover the war together.

Markiian, who has worked with Maks since 2014 documenting the war in the Donbas, in which they mingled with the Ukrainian army for weeks, described his friend in an interview with CNN on March 24 as an energetic and tenacious reporter, often resembling he was “not afraid.” . “

Since war broke out eight years ago, Maks wants to show the world what is happening in Ukraine, especially Russia, Markiian said.

“The best way to understand Maks is to look at his work,” says Markiaan. “When you watch the movie Max or look at his photos, you will understand, speechless.”

The Vyshgorod District Prosecutor’s Office is conducting a criminal investigation into alleged violations of “the laws and customs of war,” the attorney general’s office said, adding: “measures are being taken to establish all the circumstances of the crime.” .

Max started working as a photojournalist in 2006 according to his biography on LensCulture, a photography resource website. He works for Ukrainian news outlet LB.UA and is “famous” in his field, having contributed to Reuters, BBC, TRT World and the Associated Press, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

In an online statement, LB.UAs said Levin is survived by four young children, a civil partner and elderly parents. LB.UA said that in addition to journalism, Levin has worked on dozens of photo and video projects for humanitarian organizations, including the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UN Women.

In his biography, Levin describes himself as a “documentary photographer/videographer, father, man.”

By Mariya Knight in Atlanta, Amy Cassidy in London and Eliza Mackintosh in Lviv