Russian journalist killed in Ukraine drone strike: Media

MOSCOW - A Russian journalist was killed in a drone attack in eastern Ukraine, his news organisation said on June 16, two days after the death of another correspondent near the front line.

“Our correspondent Nikita Tsitsagi was killed during an attack by Ukrainian army drones,” News.Ru posted on Telegram.

It said the attack happened around the Saint-Nicolas monastery near the town of Vugledar, the scene of fierce fighting for the past three months.

The Russian foreign ministry said a Ukrainian drone had “purposefully hit the Russian journalist preparing a report in the area”.

“This is the second attack on media workers in a week, bearing the same signature,” said ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, blaming Ukraine.

On June 13,

a journalist for Russian state television was killed

and another wounded in a Ukrainian drone strike in Golmivsky, a Russian-controlled village close to the front line in the Donetsk region.

The Russian foreign ministry accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting the journalists.

President Vladimir Putin earlier this month said that “at least 30“ Russian journalists had been killed since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. AFP has not been able to verify the claim. AFP