Russian drone kills two Ukrainian journalists, Zelensky condemns Russia
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The journalists' car was hit by a Russian Lancet drone, which is often used against tanks and armoured vehicles.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Two Ukrainian journalists, Olena Hubanova and Yevhen Karmazin, were killed in Kramatorsk by a Russian drone strike on October 23.
- The journalists, from Freedom television channel, were hit by a Lancet drone at a petrol station; a colleague was also wounded.
- President Zelensky condemned the attack as a "deliberate Russian strategy" to silence independent voices, stating 135 media representatives have died.
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KYIV - Two Ukrainian journalists were killed by a Russian drone in the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Oct 23 in an attack that was condemned by President Volodymyr Zelensky and described by Ukraine's human rights ombudsman as a war crime.
Donetsk region governor Vadym Filashkin identified the journalists as Olena Hubanova and Yevhen Karmazin from Ukraine’s state-funded Freedom television channel.
The channel, which broadcasts in Russian, confirmed their deaths and said they were in a car at a petrol station at the time of the strike.
Mr Filashkin said they were hit by a Lancet, a costly and powerful drone often used against tanks and armoured vehicles.
“This tragedy is further evidence of Russia’s systemic war crimes against civilians,” human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote on Telegram.
The general prosecutor’s office said a colleague of the two journalists had also been wounded and that it had opened a war crime investigation.
It posted a photo of a destroyed red car and an image of two flak jackets marked “press” in the boot.
Mr Zelensky said Russia had killed 135 media representatives during its war in Ukraine. He did not say how many of these were journalists.
“These are not accidents or mistakes, but a deliberate Russian strategy to silence all independent voices reporting about Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X.
Russia did not immediately comment on his or Mr Lubinets’ remarks. REUTERS
