Ukrainian Drone Strike Kills Russian War Correspondent, Izvestia Reports

Semyon Eremin, a Russian war correspondent for the daily newspaper Izvestia, was killed in southeastern Ukraine in a drone strike, the newspaper reported. Eremin, aged 42, succumbed to injuries he sustained in the attack while he was on his way back from visiting a Russian military unit in the Zaporizhzhia region.

“Izvestia war correspondent Semyon Eremin was killed on April 19 during an attack by Ukrainian FPV drones in the Zaporizhzhia direction where he had gone to film a report,” Izvestia said.

His last report was about Russia’s side of the drone war, Izvestia said.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Izvestia said Eremin had sent reports from many of the hottest battles in Ukraine’s eastern regions during the 25-month-old war, including Mariupol, besieged by Russian troops for nearly three months in 2022.

He had also reported from Maryinka and Vuhledar, towns at the centre of many months of heavy fighting.

Intense drone and artillery battles – along with punitive restrictions on journalists on both sides of the 1000 km (600 mile) front – have made the Ukraine war very dangerous and very difficult to cover.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to promoting press freedom globally, at least 15 journalists have died in the Ukraine war since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022

With Inputs From Reuters