Reuters journalist in critical condition after strike on Ukraine’s Kramatorsk

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(Reuters) – Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey, a journalist for Reuters, is in critical condition following a missile strike on Saturday on a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the news agency said on Monday.

Lyubysh-Kirdey was part of a team of six people from Reuters covering the war in Ukraine who were staying at the Hotel Sapphire when it was hit by a missile. Ryan Evans, a safety adviser for the agency, was killed in the strike.

One other Reuters journalist, Daniel Peleschuk, was injured while the other three team members have been accounted for, according to the agency.

“Reuters video journalist Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey remains in critical condition. Our other colleague, Ukraine correspondent Daniel Peleschuk, was treated and has left the hospital,” Reuters said in a statement.

Lyubysh-Kirdey, 40, has worked for Reuters since 2022, and previously worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The father-of-one is a Ukrainian national and was awarded an order of merit by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in 2022 for his services to journalism.

Zelenskiy said on Sunday that the Hotel Sapphire was hit by a Russian Iskander missile, a ballistic missile that can strike at distances up to 500 km (310 miles).

Reuters was not able to independently verify if the missile that hit the hotel was fired by Russia, or if the strike on that building was deliberate.

Russia’s Defence Ministry has not commented on the strike.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov did not directly address whether Moscow had targeted the Sapphire Hotel in a conference call with reporters but said Moscow only struck military infrastructure or places “related to military infrastructure in one way or another”.