The European Union (EU) was "deeply concerned" over the impact of the violence on the safety of journalists in Eastern Ukraine, the European External Action Service (EEAS), or the EU's foreign policy arm, said on Thursday.

"We are deeply concerned by the continuing violence affecting Eastern Ukraine as a result of the activities of illegal armed groups," the EEAS said in a statement.

According to the statement, the EU strongly denounced "the intimidation of journalists by the self-proclaimed 'authorities' in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including physical threats and abductions."

"We deplore the incident in which two Russian journalists were injured on Tuesday, only a few days after the death of Russian journalist Anatoly Klyan, which demonstrates the gravity of the situation in Eastern Ukraine," said the statement.

The EU also called for independent investigations into all recently reported cases of violations of journalists' rights.