A STREET in Kyiv in Ukraine is to be named after Barry-born journalist Gareth Jones - 85 years after he was murdered by Mongolian bandits in 1935.

Gareth Jones became famous after being the first Western journalist to write in the international press about Ukraine’s 1932-33 famine in which more than one million people starved to death because of Stalin.

A new film about his life was released earlier this year, 'Mr Jones', focusing on his visit to Ukraine, where his mother had been a nanny for a Welsh coal-mining family before marrying Major Edgar Jones.

While there, he saw the impact of Stalin’s forced farm collectivization upon the population.

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Buried in Barry’s Merthyr Dyfan Cemetery, a new interpretation board explaining Mr Jones’ life has been erected.

An official ceremony will take place at a later date.

In 2009, a plaque was placed on his former home in Romilly Road, Barry, to recognise his contribution to international journalism.

Councillor Ian Johnson said: “August marks the 115th anniversary of Gareth’s birth – and the 85th anniversary of his death, killed by Mongolian bandits after being taken hostage.

“In his short but eventful life, Gareth worked for David Lloyd-George, the only Welsh-born UK Prime Minister, and he interviewed Adolf Hitler, as well as revealing the deaths of a million or more in the Ukrainian famine.

“Many people believe that he was murdered because he spoke out against the Soviet regime.

Journalists who tried to dis-credit him by declaring it ‘fake news’ were later found out to be in the pay of the KGB.

“We had hoped to celebrate his life with an event to mark the anniversary, but that has been postponed because of the pandemic.

“It will be arranged for a future date, where we hope to screen Mr Jones in his hometown, as well as bring together journalists and experts in his life to talk about his international impact.”

The new interpretation board in Merthyr Dyfan Cemetery in Barry