A US journalist abducted and held by pro-Kremlin rebels in east Ukraine told AFP he was freed Thursday. Simon Ostrovsky, who works for the online outlet VICE News, said by telephone that he was fine, although he had been beaten after being grabbed late Monday in the flashpoint town of Slavyansk and was initially kept tied up and blindfolded. "After a day and a half they took off the blindfold and untied my hands, then they treated me normally," he said.