The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador Lynne Tracy on Monday, condemning the incident as a "proxy war" instigated by Washington and vowing retaliatory measures in response.
Answering a query over the efforts of freeing jailed Evan Gerschkovich, Blinken said, "It's a sombre day, for the reasons that my alter ego cited just a few minutes ago. We know that journalists around the world are increasingly under siege - under siege in a whole variety of ways.
Notably, over 70 people died during the 2014 Maidan protests, which were sparked by former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's decision to scrap a trade deal with the European Union and instead turn toward Russia, according to CNN.