In a message sent to Mr Stenin’s mother, Vera Stenina, the President said, in particular:
“We believed that Andrei would return to his family and friends, but the tragic news has crushed these hopes. He carried out his professional and human duty right to the end and did everything possible so that people all around the world would know the truth about the tragic events taking place in Donetsk.”
Mr Stenin, a photojournalist of the International Information News Agency Rossiya Segodnya, was killed in Ukraine, near Donetsk.