A Russian journalist was killed today by a Ukrainian “suicide” drone while driving on a road in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reports today.

Alexander Martemyanov, a freelance journalist working for the newspaper, was returning from Horlivka, a city in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region that was shelled by the Ukrainian military, along with colleagues when their car was hit, the Russian state-run news agency reported. state news agency RIA.

An RIA journalist and four other media workers were injured in the attack, the news agency added.

“The car the journalist was riding in was attacked by a suicide drone. Martemyanov succumbed to his injuries“, Izvestia wrote.

“Ukrainian military launches drone attack on civilian car carrying Izvestia freelance correspondent Alexander Martemyanov“, the newspaper writes on its Telegram channel. “The car was far from the touchline.”

According to Izvestia, the car was traveling on a highway connecting Donetsk, the main city of the Russian-controlled Donetsk region, and the city of Horlivka in the north.

Another Izvestia war correspondent, Semyon Eremin, was killed by a Ukrainian drone in August 2024 in the Zaporizhia region of southern Ukraine, the newspaper said.

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 15 journalists have been killed while covering the conflict in Ukraine since February 2022. The organization says it is currently investigating other journalist deaths. .