Casualties in Russian-Ukrainian Mutual Bombardment

Journalists Injured, One Missing in Kramatorsk, Both Ukraine and Russia experienced a bloody night with civilian casualties on Saturday-Sunday night, as Kyiv’s forces’ incursion into Russia’s Kursk region entered its third week. Reuters announced that two of its journalists were injured, and another went missing following a strike that targeted the “Sapphire” hotel in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday night. Vadym Lyakh, the governor of the Donetsk region where most of the fighting occurs, stated that the Russian army targeted the hotel.

Reuters reported in a statement that “one of our colleagues is missing, while two others have been hospitalized for treatment,” adding that their six-member crew was at the hotel and that they were “urgently seeking more information.” Reuters clarified that their team, covering the war in the east, was staying at the “Sapphire” hotel. According to the agency, “three other colleagues were found,” and it added that it is “working with the authorities in Kramatorsk and supporting our colleagues and their families.” According to Governor Lyakh, the injured and missing journalists are “citizens of Ukraine, the United States, and the United Kingdom.” He added on the “Telegram” platform that the attack, which damaged the “Sapphire” hotel and a neighboring building, occurred “at midnight.” He indicated that “police and rescue workers are at the scene. The rubble is being cleared, and rescue operations are ongoing.” According to the non-governmental organization “Reporters Without Borders,” at least 11 journalists have been killed, and 35 others injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Among these journalists was Arman Soldin, a 32-year-old photographer for “Agence France-Presse,” who was killed while working on May 9th by Russian rockets in Chasiv Yar, near the front line in the Donetsk region. The city of Kramatorsk, the last major city in the Donbas under Ukrainian control, is located about 20 kilometers west of the front line. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, this city, which had about 150,000 inhabitants before the war, has been repeatedly targeted by Russian forces, according to “Agence France-Presse.”

Elsewhere in Ukraine, 11 people were killed in Russian shelling over the last 24 hours. Seven people were killed in the Donetsk region (east), and four others in Sumy (north), according to local authorities. At least 28 people were injured in these strikes. On the Russian side, five people were killed in Ukrainian shelling in the Belgorod region overnight, according to Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the region neighboring Kursk, which has been under attack from Kyiv for more than two weeks. Vyacheslav added that 13 people were injured, including six in “critical condition,” including a 16-year-old girl in intensive care. The governor of the Kursk region, Alexei Smirnov, reported that four Ukrainian missiles were shot down late Saturday night. Since the Ukrainian offensive on the border region began, more than 130,000 people have fled the fighting. At least 31 civilians have been killed, and 143 injured, according to authorities.