Ukraine: Izvestia’s correspondent killed by drone attack
Russian state controlled newspaper Izvestia reported Saturday that its freelance correspondent Alexander Martemyanov died from his injuries after a drone hit the civilian vehicle he was traveling in on the Donetsk-Horlivka highway, in Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine. Four other media workers were reportedly injured in the same attack. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) demand an investigation into these events and call on the warring parties to respect their obligation to protect media workers as civilians.
According to Russia’s state Ria Novosti news agency, the vehicle had been returning from covering shelling in the Russian-held city of Horlivka when it was hit. Two journalists from RIA Novosti, both male, and two from the pro-Russian publication Bloknot Donetsk, both female, who were in the car with Martemyanov had also been “lightly injured” in the strike. Bloknot Donetsk said its journalists had survived by “jumping out of the moving car” and sustained shrapnel wounds, concussions, and bruises.
Moscow accused Ukraine’s military of deliberately targeting journalists. Ukraine has not commented.
“We call for an independent investigation to establish who was behind the attack and to ascertain to what extent it was deliberately aimed at media workers”, reacted the IFJ and EFJ, recalling that journalists, as civilians, are entitled to protection in all circumstances, in the context of armed conflict, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
“This event, like others, bears witness to the senseless deaths and injuries of colleagues as a result of this war also deprived of any sense,” said Andrei Jvirblis, International Secretary of the Russian Journalists’ and Media Workers’ Union (JMWU). “We express our condolences to the family and friends of Alexander Martemyanov”.
