KRAMATORSK (AFP) – A safety advisor working for Reuters was killed in a missile strike on a hotel in eastern Ukraine, the global news agency said on Sunday, as Kyiv claimed further advances into Russia’s Kursk region.
Reuters said it was “devastated” by the loss of its security advisor following the strike late on Saturday at the Hotel Sapphire in the city of Kramatorsk, where six of its crew covering the war were staying.
Reuters said the strike left two of its journalists in hospital, one with serious injuries, while three others were safe.
Ukrainian prosecutors said the hotel was hit by a Russian Iskander missile at 10.35pm (1935 GMT) on Saturday, with the strike also damaging the building next door.
Kramatorsk – the last major city under Ukrainian control in the Donetsk region – is often used as a base for aid workers and foreign journalists.
Reuters said the advisor who was killed had “helped keep so many of our journalists safe as they covered events around the world. He was a dear colleague and friend, and we will miss him terribly.”
