(Kramatorsk) A security adviser working with Reuters journalists was killed in a missile strike on their hotel in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday, the news agency said on Sunday, after a particularly deadly weekend in that country and Russia.
The man “was part of the Reuters team staying at the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk […] when it was hit by a missile strike,” the agency said in a statement on X, saying it was “devastated” by the news.
“Two of our journalists are in hospital; one is being treated for serious injuries,” Reuters added, specifying that three other colleagues were unharmed.
Vadym Filachkin, governor of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, where most of the fighting is taking place, said the hotel in Kramatorsk had “been targeted” by the Russian army.
PHOTO GENYA SAVILOV, REUTERS
A building next to the Sapphire Hotel was damaged in the Russian strike.
“We are urgently seeking further information, working with the authorities in Kramatorsk and providing support to our colleagues and their families,” the agency added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the strike. “For all this, the world must not stop putting pressure on the terrorist state,” he said, referring to Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022.
According to Governor Filashkin, the three victims are “citizens of Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom.” The attack, which damaged the Sapphire Hotel and a neighboring building, took place “in the middle of the night,” he said on Telegram.
AFP journalists in Kramatorsk saw rescuers inspecting the rubble of the hotel using flashlights.
City often targeted
The last major city in Donbass under Ukrainian control, Kramatorsk is located about twenty kilometers west of the front line.
Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, this city, which had a population of around 150,000 before the war, has been the target of repeated attacks by Russian forces.
In April 2022, Kramatorsk train station was the target of a bombing that left more than 60 dead. In June 2023, a strike on a restaurant in the city left 13 dead.
The attack came during a particularly deadly weekend in Ukraine and Russia, with at least 20 civilians killed in several bombings in the past 24 hours.
PHOTO THOMAS PETER, REUTERS ARCHIVES
A man searches inside the Sapphire Hotel, which was hit by a Russian missile strike, on August 24.
In Ukraine, 14 people were killed: seven in the Donetsk region (East) and four in the Sumy region (North), according to local authorities.
In the Kherson region (south), three people were killed, according to the Ukrainian police. “The Russian military fired on residential areas of the Kherson region using multiple rocket launchers, artillery, aircraft and drones,” it said on Telegram.
At least 34 people were also injured in the strikes.
On the Russian side, six people were killed in Ukrainian bombings in the Belgorod region during the night, announced Sunday Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of this region neighboring that of Kursk, attacked for more than two weeks by Kyiv.
PHOTO VIACHESLAV RATYNSKYI, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Kursk Region Governor Alexei Smirnov reported that four Ukrainian missiles were shot down late Saturday evening.
According to him, 13 people were also injured, six of whom are “in serious condition”, including a 16-year-old girl who is in intensive care.
Kursk region governor Alexei Smirnov reported that four Ukrainian missiles had been shot down late Saturday evening.
On Sunday evening, the Ukrainian president claimed “advances” in the Kursk region, and the capture of two villages.
Meanwhile, Ukraine accused its neighbour Belarus, a close ally of Russia, of “massing” troops on its border and warned Minsk against possible “unfriendly acts”.
PHOTO VITALII HNIDYI, REUTERS
The site of the hotel hit by a Russian missile strike in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, August 25, 2024.
According to the NGO Reporters Without Borders, at least 11 journalists have been killed in Ukraine and 35 injured since the start of the Russian invasion launched in February 2022.
AFP video coordinator in Ukraine, Arman Soldin, was killed on May 9, 2023, at the age of 32, in a rocket attack while reporting in Chassiv Yar, near the front in the Donetsk region.