Sorbi, in any case, ended up in Kenya after a series of work assignments that had taken him around the world. The war correspondent was injured on August 31, 2022, in what was initially believed to have been a landmine explosion. However, we can reveal here at MOW that Ukrainian intelligence services subsequently established, as confirmed by Rainews journalist Ilario Piagnerelli, that he had actually been caught in an attack involving RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) fired from a distance near Kherson, on the front line between Ukraine and Russia. He was immediately rescued by Russian soldiers and transferred to Italy on September 17, 2022, suffering from nerve damage in his left foot, as well as injuries to his leg and abdomen. After being discharged from hospital, he headed to Venezuela around the time of the American abduction of President Maduro on January 3, 2026. On February 28, however, he found himself covering events in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which were being bombarded by Iranian missiles in retaliation for the attacks carried out by the United States and Israel against Iran. Sorbi tells us that he entered Israel on foot from Egypt, "because Ben Gurion Airport was closed, and I worked there until mid-June. I decided to take a long holiday, somewhat reluctantly, I must admit, simply because my visa had expired after three months. Work was going well, and then there were the much-talked-about Israeli elections coming up. So I thought, 'I'll go to Kenya to have some fun and relax for two or three months.' I had already told the agency, 'Don't worry, this way I can come back with a new visa, and everything will be sorted.' I could already cover the pre-election campaign for a month starting in mid-September. The agency then told me, 'We're with you from September 22.' Everything was going smoothly. I had already booked my flight from the Kenyan coast to Dubai, along with my ticket for one of those well-known Dubai–Tel Aviv flights, the ones that ended up being diverted some time ago. But unfortunately, I ended up trapped in this terrible situation, in which my friend Caroline Abbo lost her life. I was quite close to her, and we had met in Diani. I had found this really nice villa in Kwale. It was inexpensive, with a swimming pool, a cleaning lady, and a manager who provided security and also cooked for me. We had a very good relationship. I would give him 1,000 Kenyan shillings, the equivalent of about €7.50 or €8, and he would go out, buy some fish, and cook it. He was the one who informed me that he had found Caroline drowned in the swimming pool."

How exactly did things happen?

"Shortly before that, I had asked her to go for a walk on the beach with me, but she said she was tired, that she was going to get changed, charge her phone, and show me her new dress.

"Then I received a phone call from a friend in Milan. He called me at around four in the afternoon, so Carole had gone downstairs at about twenty to four. The swimming pool is quite far from the veranda, and you can't see it from there because it's beyond the hedge separating the veranda from the garden.

"After ten or fifteen minutes of chatting with my friend, I told him I wanted to introduce him to Caroline. So I switched to a video call. But I couldn't see her in the swimming pool.

"I went upstairs to look for her, even climbing the stairs, although she had told me she was going to the pool. She wasn't there either. I thought maybe she was planning to surprise me.

"So I went to the beach, but she wasn't there either.

"My villa is about a twenty-minute walk from the Brown Hippo, where I am right now. It's a lovely walk, and it really helps with the neuropathy in my foot.

"But when I got there, I found it closed because it was Monday, the Brown Hippo's closing day. I had completely forgotten about that, or perhaps I had never known in the first place.

"I got back at six. Across from the villa there's the Pallet Café, a place I'm quite fond of. So I sat there watching what was supposed to be my last sunset in Kenya.

"But then Kevin, the cook and manager of the villa, came rushing towards me, completely out of breath.

"'What's wrong, Kevin?' I asked him. 'I've never seen you like this.'

"'Something terrible has happened. You have to come back to the villa immediately,' he replied, clearly panicking.

"It's literally two minutes, 120 seconds, from the beach.

"We went into the villa, and he pointed out this dark shape at the bottom of the swimming pool.

"It was Caroline, still wearing her new dress.

"Kevin was just as devastated as I was. He was so shaken that he was frightened. Local people are afraid of having to pay the police when they call them, but I told him, 'I'm going to miss my flight, but when something this tragic happens, we have no other choice.'

"Then I started panicking too.

"So I told him to call security immediately, because the villa has an emergency button that summons private security, and they respond straight away.

"The private security officers arrived and immediately contacted the authorities, but the police took a long time to get there.

"We found the body at around six-thirty. It was already getting dark, and the police didn't manage to arrive until ten o'clock that night.

"At that point, I explained everything that had happened, and they told me there were no inconsistencies in my account.

"The forensic team did a good job, and they checked that there were no cuts or signs of physical trauma on her body. They told me that directly, to my face.

"She probably drowned, or perhaps she had a stroke or a heart attack. Or maybe, as someone suggested — a female friend of mine — she tripped over her own dress, hit her head, and started swallowing water.

"Polina, the housekeeper, was at the villa until five o'clock and didn't hear anything. She's a good woman, Polina.

"I had already left at four-thirty.

"It seems that, somehow, Caroline died just before my phone call with Carlo. So unfortunately, it must have happened almost immediately, because afterwards I hadn't seen anyone in the swimming pool."

If the police found nothing suspicious, why are you still being held "hostage" in Kenya?

"This is a tragedy within a tragedy, or, for heaven's sake, a problem within a problem.

"The police were supposed to carry out the autopsy within two weeks at most. Since the young woman was Ugandan, I was told that either her family members or, in their absence, a Ugandan diplomat had to be present. But the diplomat, for one reason or another, has refused to come. He claims that he never received the official letter.

"I personally wrote to the Ugandan Ambassador, to the United Nations in Nairobi, and to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights about my situation. I'll show you the other documents.

"Ambassador Del Monaco has made some efforts, but for diplomatic reasons he doesn't want to personally call the Ugandan Ambassador, leaving me to bear the consequences of this diplomatic issue.

"He says it would make matters worse because it would constitute interference between sovereign states. That's his explanation.

"But forty days have now passed, and given the circumstances, Kenyan law would allow the authorities to carry out the autopsy independently, without any problem.

"In fact, I had to go to the public prosecutor with two lawyers, and today he told me that the autopsy might finally take place without Uganda's involvement on November 20.

"But I'm starting to become seriously concerned about my own situation.

"All I'm asking is for an autopsy to be carried out. I'm not asking to escape or simply leave the country.

"I was the one who called the police.

"I was even the one who personally arranged an appointment with the Ugandan Embassy a month ago, about a week after September 21, using a copy of Caroline's identity card, which the police had provided me with."

What did the Ugandan diplomats tell you?

"I went to the embassy with an appointment, having been told that I would be able to speak with either the Deputy Ambassador or the Ambassador.

"But nobody showed up.

"So I said, 'Excuse me, I'm happy to wait, of course, but this is an extremely serious matter.'

"At that point, I was escorted out by Ugandan personnel carrying two rifles.

"That's when I discovered that Uganda's Ambassador, Herbert Kiguli — who is actually the Consul General in Mombasa — had been imprisoned over corruption allegations involving $200,000 worth of face masks, money he had allegedly pocketed.

"That's why he was deported from Kenya to Uganda.

"I'm a victim of circumstances.

"Meanwhile, the Italian Embassy hasn't exactly been particularly proactive either.

"It's unclear whether the police in Diani actually sent the official letter to the Ugandan diplomats.

"And Kenya keeps making excuses, even though, given the circumstances, it could legally proceed with the autopsy on its own.

"With the November 20 date given to me by the public prosecutor, we'll have reached sixty days."