Five people killed in Ukrainian shelling of Russian border region
25 August 2024, 11:54
Meanwhile, a Reuters journalist is missing after Russian fire struck a hotel in eastern Ukraine where a team from the news agency were staying.
Five people have been killed in Ukrainian shelling in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, officials said on Sunday, while Russian forces struck a hotel in eastern Ukraine where a news agency team were staying, leaving one journalist missing and two others injured.
Twelve other people were wounded in the Russian village of Rakitone, 23 miles (38km) from the Ukrainian border, including a 16-year-old girl reported to be in a critical condition, said regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
Russian forces struck a hotel overnight in the city of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, injuring two people and leaving one trapped under the rubble, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said.
All three were reported to be journalists from Ukraine, the US and the UK.
Reuters news agency said on Sunday that its journalist covering the war in Ukraine is missing and two other team members were taken to hospital after Hotel Sapphire, where a six-person crew was staying, was hit “by an apparent missile strike” on Saturday.
“One of our colleagues is unaccounted for, while another two have been taken to hospital for treatment,” the agency said.
The rest of the team have been accounted for, said the news agency.
In addition to the hotel, a nearby multistorey building was also destroyed, Governor Filashkin said, and rescuers were busy clearing the debris at the site.
Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region also came under Russian fire, resulting in multiple civilian injuries, regional goerno Oleh Syniehubov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
In Kharkiv’s Chuhuiv region, five people were injured, including a four-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, after two houses were struck by Russian fire.
In Kharkiv city, eight people were wounded when a two-storey house was set on fire by a Russian attack.
In Balakliia, a Russian strike destroyed six houses and damaged others. A 55-year-old man was injured.
In the Kupiansk area, a house was set on fire by a Russian attack, wounding four women.
