Ukraine: Safety adviser for news agency killed in Russian strike on hotel, 2 injured

Ryan Evans, a British safety adviser who was working for the Reuters news agency, was killed and two other journalists were injured in a Russian strike at a hotel in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday night, CNN reported.

Reuters had a six-person crew staying at the Hotel Sapphire as part of its team covering the war in Ukraine. A spokesperson for the news agency identified the killed safety adviser as Ryan Evans, a British citizen who was assigned to its reporting team in Ukraine.

The news agency added that two of its journalists were being treated in hospital, one for serious injuries.
“We are urgently seeking more information about the attack, including by working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are supporting our colleagues and their families. We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan’s family and loved ones. Ryan has helped so many of our journalists cover events around the world; we will miss him terrible,” the statement on Sunday afternoon read.
Evans, 38, a former British soldier, had been working with Reuters since 2022 and advised its journalists on safety around the world, including in Ukraine, Israel and at the Paris Olympics, CNN reported, citing the news agency.

Three other colleagues have been accounted for and suffered mild injuries, it added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed in his daily address on Sunday that British and American citizens were in the Kramatorsk hotel, adding, “My condolences go out to the family and friends. This is a daily Russian terror that continues, because Russia has the ability to continue.”

A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said, “We are aware of reports of a British national missing in Ukraine and are seeking more information from the local authorities.”

The US State Department has also confirmed that an American citizen was among those injured but has not identified the person.

The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin, said the injured journalists include “citizens of Ukraine, the United States, Latvia and Germany.” He confirmed on Telegram Sunday morning that the deceased was a British citizen.

Notably, Kramatorsk has often been the target of Russian shelling since the start of the conflict in February 2022. It remains one of the largest cities under Ukrainian control in the country’s besieged east, as reported by CNN.

In April last year, Russian forces carried out a missile strike on a railway station in Kramatorsk that was being used to shelter civilians fleeing the fighting.

Over 50 people, including several children, died in that one attack, which Human Rights Watch and SITU Research termed as “an apparent war crime.” (ANI)

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