DDW*L: Dmitry Chebotayev, photojournalist; first Russian journalist known to have died in Iraq
JohnPirateLynchedDeborah
Staff and agencies
09 May, 2007
http://www.localnewsleader.com/olberlin/stories/index.php?action=fullnews&id=106885
By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer Tue May 8, 11:14 AM ET
BAQOUBA, Iraq - In the last hours of his life, Russian photojournalist
Dmitry Chebotayev was doing what he lived for: taking pictures. And
laughing.
Chebotayev is the first Russian journalist known to have died in Iraq.
At least 101 journalists have been killed here since the U.S.-led
invasion in 2003, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists.
After he suffered from a spinal ailment at age 24, Chebotayev was
forced to give up a career in sports. He became depressed, but
Kolesnikova said she suggested he become a photographer and they
bought a camera together.
"He took the camera, he liked it, he made real progress," said
Kolesnikova, a 28-year-old photographer in Moscow for the French news
agency Agence France-Presse. "By age 29, after just four years, he
became a role model for many of his colleagues."
He took assignments in Chechnya , India and Lebanon.
"He understood everything," Kolesnikova said of the risks of his
trade. "He tried to reassure his loved ones that he would be fine ...
Dima was that rare type of person who felt that he had to work" in
dangerous areas.
Chebotayev said the war was different than he imagined. He found many
places unexpectedly quiet — but always dangerous.
In Iraq, Chebotayev produced extraordinarily thoughtful works of art,
taking pictures of civilians and troops indoors or at night. His work
resembled centuries-old oil paintings and showed a mastery of light
composition.
Chebotayev got along well with American soldiers — including one from
Ukraine — who struck up playful conversations when they noticed his
Russian accent. He was warm, curious, laughed easily and often joked
with soldiers about the U.S.-Russian space race and the Cold War.
Chebotayev spent free time drinking coffee at a shop on base, and
often lay on his cot in a large green military tent, playing
backgammon on his cell phone and editing photos.
He was eager to explore Baqouba but frustrated after several days on
base without going out.
On Sunday, Chebotayev awoke at 6 a.m. and skipped coffee because he
didn‘t want to miss the chance to go out with troops from the 2nd
Infantry Division‘s 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment. He left the
base an hour later with a platoon of four Stryker vehicles wearing a
maroon shirt, kneepads, a blue flak vest, a helmet and two cameras
strapped over his shoulders.
After spending several hours at an Iraqi police station with troops
who picked up a wounded Iraqi policeman from a checkpoint, helicopters
spotted armed men at a nearby intersection and several others
apparently planting a bomb in a road.
Chebotayev climbed into a Stryker and the troops headed out around
noon to another street to cut off the insurgents. As the vehicles
inched down a trash-strewn road, a thunderous blast consumed one of
them in a huge ball of gray debris that flipped the eight-wheeled,
37,000-pound troop carrier upside down and tore out its interior.
The explosion killed everyone inside except the driver.
As troops scrambled to recover casualties, gunmen fired from a large
yellow-domed mosque across the street, sparking a firefight that saw
rounds ping off the wreckage. The Strykers blasted small chunks of
concrete off the mosque with 40mm grenades and heavy caliber guns.
Later, three insurgents wearing armored vests — probably stolen from
police — were found dead in the mosque.
That night, Chebotayev‘s remains were loaded onto a Black Hawk
helicopter on a darkened runway and blessed by an Army chaplain. The
aircraft pulled straight up and disappeared into a starry sky, the
first step of the journey back to Russia.
Chebotayev is survived by his father, Vyatcheslav Chebotayev, and his
mother, Tatjana.
AP writer Maria Danilova contributed to this report from Moscow.
JohnPirateLynchedDeborah
5/8/2007, 11:14 a.m. EDT
By TODD PITMAN
The Associated Press
http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/base/international-38/1178637590258640.xml
BAQOUBA, Iraq (AP) — In the last hours of his life, Russian
photojournalist Dmitry Chebotayev was doing what he lived for: taking
pictures. And laughing.
Chebotayev died Sunday when a bomb exploded under the U.S. Stryker
troop carrier he was traveling in as it moved down a road in this
insurgent-plagued city northeast of Baghdad, killing him along with
six American soldiers. He was 29.
Chebotayev is the first Russian journalist known to have died in Iraq.
At least 101 journalists have been killed here since the U.S.-led
invasion in 2003, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists.
Born Jan. 20, 1978, Chebotayev graduated from Moscow State
Technological University in 2001 with a degree in economics. He loved
to snowboard and was an avid cyclist, said his girlfriend of six
years, Natalia Kolesnikova.
After he suffered from a spinal ailment at age 24, Chebotayev was
forced to give up a career in sports. He became depressed, but
Kolesnikova said she suggested he become a photographer and they
bought a camera together.
Chebotayev quickly developed a passion for the craft.
"He took the camera, he liked it, he made real progress," said
Kolesnikova, a 28-year-old photographer in Moscow for the French news
agency Agence France-Presse. "By age 29, after just four years, he
became a role model for many of his colleagues."
Chebotayev began freelancing for the Russian news photo agency
Photoxpress in 2003. Two years later, he became a contract
photographer with the Russian edition of Newsweek magazine. He also
worked for the World Picture Network, the European Pressphoto Agency
and the independent Moscow daily Kommersant.
He took assignments in Chechnya, India and Lebanon.
The trip to Iraq was his first.
"He understood everything," Kolesnikova said of the risks of his
trade. "He tried to reassure his loved ones that he would be fine ...
Dima was that rare type of person who felt that he had to work" in
dangerous areas.
Arriving in Baghdad in March, Chebotayev embedded with U.S. Marines in
troubled Anbar province. In April, he transferred to U.S. units in
Baghdad before flying to Baqouba at the end of the month. He had
planned to stay in Iraq through May.
Chebotayev said the war was different than he imagined. He found many
places unexpectedly quiet — but always dangerous.
While on a patrol in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood last month,
Chebotayev said the Humvee he was riding in was hit by small-arms
fire. Glass struck his face, but did not injure him. Days later, he
bought $67 protective eye wear, saying, "I'm a photographer, I have to
protect the most important part of my body — my eyes."
In Iraq, Chebotayev produced extraordinarily thoughtful works of art,
taking pictures of civilians and troops indoors or at night. His work
resembled centuries-old oil paintings and showed a mastery of light
composition.
During one patrol last week, he said: "I don't want to take many
pictures of everything, I want to take a few great pictures."
Chebotayev got along well with American soldiers — including one from
Ukraine — who struck up playful conversations when they noticed his
Russian accent. He was warm, curious, laughed easily and often joked
with soldiers about the U.S.-Russian space race and the Cold War.
While embedded, he chose not to even take shampoo, washing his hair
with soap and saving the weight in his backpack for the essentials:
his cameras and portable computer, which had a permanent backdrop of
his girlfriend, whom he said he loved deeply.