Andrea Rocchelli

Rocchelli graduated in 2007 at the Polytechnic University of Milan where he was awarded a master's degree in Communications Design. Subsequently, he was trained by Magnum Photos photographer Alex Majoli. In 2008, with other four photographers, he founded Cesura, a photographic collective aiming to produce independent projects.

He worked as a freelance photojournalist with a diversified curriculum. He documented the Arab Spring in Libya and Tunisia, the violation of human rights in Kyrgyzstan and Ingushetia, the conditions of migrants in Southern Italy and organized crime. His principal interest had been eastern Europe and Russia. His photos have been published by a number of journals and magazines such as Le Monde, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, and Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta.[2]

When Rocchelli died, his first book, Russian Interiors, was about to be completed. The work was published posthumously by Cesura.[3]

Rocchelli was killed in Andriivka, Ukraine, near Sloviansk, on 24 May 2014 while reporting on the war in Donbass. He was travelling with the human rights activist and interpreter Andrei Mironov (also died in the attack), a French photo reporter, and a local driver. When they stopped to take some pictures near a railway line, the group was hit by mortar fire. The Italian authorities described the attack that killed both Mironov and Rocchelli as murder.[4]

Rocchelli's death was investigated by the Italian authorities. An international rogatory to their Ukrainan counterpart was requested, but this action did not achieve any significant result. Nevertheless, further inquiries were carried out by the Italian prosecutor in collaboration with the investigative unit of the Carabinieri Special Operations Group. In July 2017 these inquiries led the Italian authorities to arrest Vitalii Markiv,[5] an Italian citizen from Ukraine, a former member of one of National Guard units.[6]

In response to the arrest by Italian prosecution Ukrainian prosecution proposed a joint investigation that will conduct visit and examination of the place of Rocchelli death, however, according to Ukrainian media, this proposal was ignored by Italian prosecution.[7][8][9][10]

On 12 July 2019 the Court of Assize of the Tribunal of Pavia has sentenced Markiv to 24 years of detention in prison in concurs of guilt with the Ukrainian state, the public prosecutor had asked for Markiv a 17 years sentence.

The same sentence, furthermore, calls for the forwarding of the file concerning Commander Bogdan Matkiwsky for investigation by the Rome Prosecutor's Office because he is deemed the direct superior of Markiv during the operations that killed Rocchelli and Mironov.

Raffaele Della Valle, the lawyer of Markiv, had claimed his complete innocence and declared that he is going to appeal the tribunal sentence, he will have to file for appeal within ninety days of the publication of the sentence motivations by the Tribunal of Pavia. [11][12]

The last pictures Rocchelli took before his death precisely document the attack that killed him and Mironov and permanently injured Roguelon. These photographs testify to the duration of the shootings, the morphology of the area, and the civilian clothing worn by the victims.[13]