LONDON (AP) — The Associated Press has named Peter Leonard to be its correspondent for Ukraine, whose Western-leaning government is struggling to unite the nation in the face of a deadly insurgency.
The appointment was announced Tuesday by Caro Kriel, AP’s incoming Europe news director.
From a base in Kiev, Leonard will lead AP’s coverage of the government’s attempts to build a new nation and a pro-Russian insurgency’s efforts to achieve greater autonomy in the east of the country.
“Leonard has covered Ukraine and the troubles in the east intensively over the last three months as a freelancer for the AP. He has shown courage and clarity in his reporting of a complicated story,” Kriel said.
Leonard, 35, previously worked for the AP from a base in Kazakhstan from 2007-13 as the news cooperative’s Central Asia correspondent. He traveled extensively to cover major stories in the region while managing a small team of stringers. There, he received the Associated Press Managing Editors’ John L. Dougherty Award for exemplary work by a younger staffer.
Prior to joining the AP, Leonard was deputy business editor of the Moscow Times and managing editor of Neweurasia.net, a blogging network.
A native of Ireland, Leonard speaks fluent Russian, Italian and Maltese as well as some French. He graduated from Oxford University in 2006.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
