Russian war correspondent dies after being blown up by mine on border with Ukraine
26 March 2025, 11:32
A Russian journalist has died after she stepped on a mine close to the border with Ukraine.
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Anna Prokofieva, a 35-year-old war correspondent for Russian Channel One, which is partly state-owned, was killed in the Belgorod region.
Her cameraman, Dmitry Volkov, was seriously injured by the same mine.
Volkov has suffered burns to his face, forearms, left hand, legs, and upper respiratory tract.
He has been rushed to a hospital in the Kursk region.
Prokofieva was an outspoken supporter of the invasion of Ukraine. She wore a red and orange 'George ribbon', a symbol of Soviet victory in World War 2, emblazoned with a 'Z' logo, which is a sign of support for the current Russian war effort.
She regularly posted from the field on Telegram, where she had over 12,000 subscribers. She was often pictured in camouflage.
Her last post was on Tuesday, where she said she was "somewhere on the border with 'page 404'" - a jokey reference to Ukraine. She was thought to be outside the Demidovka village.
In recent weeks Prokofieva had posted videos from Sudzha in the Kursk region, the focus of much of the fighting as Russia sought to push back the Ukrainian army following their incursion last year.
On March 8, Prokofieva posted a picture of herself posing in a basement, wishing her followers a happy International Women's Day.
After her death, a fellow war correspondent wrote that "Anna always had to find her way to the most 'heated' areas where she could deliver the most information" back to viewers.
The Belgorod region is immediately to the north-east of Ukraine's Kharkiv region.
Ukraine has hit Belgorod airbases with missile strikes on several occasions.
The Belgorod region is also to the north of Russia's Kursk region, which Ukraine invaded last year.
Belgorod authorities declared a state of emergency last summer because of the fighting nearby.
Channel One is around 40% state-owned, and is largely considered a pro-Putin outlet.
