Ukraine: Three Russian media workers killed in rocket attack
On 24 March, Russian state-controlled newspaper Izvestia’s correspondent Alexander Fedorchak was killed in a rocket attack in Ukraine, along with state-controlled Zvezda TV cameraman Andrei Panov and driver Alexander Sirkeli. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ-EF) call for an investigation into the attack and demand warring parties respect media workers and protect them, especially in conflict zones.
The air strike hit the media workers’ car in Luhansk, an eastern Ukrainian region under Russian occupation, where they were covering the news. Three other civilians were also reported killed in the strike. Zvezda correspondent Nikita Goldin was reported to be in critical condition.
Izvestia said on their website that Fedorchak was preparing a report on the work of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) crews in Luhansk when their car was hit.
Russian-based news media claimed that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the attack which targeted civilian cars and buildings in that area. Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the attack.
“We’re calling for an independent investigation into the killing of our three colleagues,” said IFJ/EFJ. “Journalists are civilians and should be protected at all times, especially during war. Attacking media workers, whether it’s intentional or because their safety was ignored, is completely unacceptable and cannot be overlooked.”
According to IFJ statistics, 21 journalists have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
