Russian Iskander missile hits Kramatorsk hotel, Reuters staff affected
Ryan Evans, a member of the Reuters team reporting on the war in Ukraine, was killed, and two Reuters journalists were injured in an attack on a hotel in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, the press agency announced.
Evans, who was serving as a security advisor for the agency, was killed when a missile struck the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk on Saturday, where he was staying with a team of six. Reuters confirmed this in a statement.
Two journalists from the agency were treated at the hospital. One of them sustained serious injuries, according to the agency.
“We are urgently seeking more information about the attack, including by working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are providing support to our colleagues and their families,” Reuters stated.
Ryan Evans, a former British soldier, had been with Reuters since 2022. He advised the agency’s journalists on safety matters worldwide, including in Ukraine, Israel, and during the Paris Olympics. He was 38 years old.
“We extend our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan’s family and loved ones. Ryan helped many of our journalists cover events around the world; he will be deeply missed,” Reuters said.
The other three members of the Reuters team who were in the hotel at the time of the attack have been identified and are safe, the agency reported.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the hotel was struck by a Russian Iskander missile, a ballistic missile capable of reaching distances of up to 500 kilometres. “A regular hotel in the city was destroyed by the Russian Iskander missile,” he said in his Sunday evening address, adding that the attack was an “absolutely intentional and deliberate” act.
Reuters has not been able to independently verify whether the missile that hit the hotel was launched by Russia or if it was a deliberate strike on the building.
The regional prosecutor’s office in Donetsk previously reported on Telegram that the body of a British citizen was found in the rubble of a hotel building in Kramatorsk.
The hotel was “destroyed” at 10:35 PM local time on Saturday, “probably by an Iskander-M missile,” the office said. A preliminary investigation into the strike has been opened.
Russia conducted attacks in the north, east, and south of Ukraine, killing at least four people and injuring 37, Ukrainian military and local authorities announced on Sunday. The overnight strikes targeted front-line Ukrainian regions in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Donetsk, according to the Ukrainian air forces on Telegram.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
