Russian newspapers said their reporter was killed by a Ukrainian drone attack

Russian state newspaper Izvestia said one of its freelance reporters was killed in a drone strike near the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow accused the Ukrainian army of deliberately targeting Alexander Martemyanov. Ukraine has not commented.

Izvestia said a civilian vehicle carrying Martemyanov was hit while traveling on a highway in the Russian-occupied zone.

Five other media workers were said to have been injured in the same attack.

“The Ukrainian army launched a drone attack on a civilian car carrying Izvestia freelance reporter Alexander Martemyanov,” the news agency reported on its Telegram channel.

“The vehicle was located far away from the communication line.”

Russia’s state news agency RIA said the vehicle was returning from shelling in the Russian-held city of Gorlivka when it was hit.

Two RIA journalists were injured in the attack, the agency added.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the incident “intentional murder”.

In a statement, she described it as “another brutal crime in a series of bloody crimes” committed by the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The EU blocked Russian media outlets – including Izvestia and RIA – in May, accusing them of facilitating “the spread and support of Russia’s propaganda and aggressive war against Ukraine”.

At least 15 journalists have been killed since Russia’s all-out attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.