Russian Strike Injures Ukrainian Journalist As War Nears Four-Year Mark

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

NEW YORK/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday called for “a thorough investigation” after a Russian strike in eastern Ukraine wounded a Ukrainian television journalist, underscoring the risks faced by media workers as the war approaches its fourth year.

CPJ said Igor Levinok, a correspondent with the privately owned Ukrainian TV channel Inter, was injured on February 8 when a Russian aerial bomb exploded near the entrance of a building housing his crew in Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region.

“Shards from a window injured Levinok in his left arm and left hand,” CPJ said in a statement, adding that the rest of the crew escaped unharmed. The attack reportedly killed one person and injured six others.

Kramatorsk has served as a key base for Ukrainian journalists covering frontline developments in eastern Ukraine since 2014.

JOURNALISTS UNDER FIRE AS WAR NEARS FOURTH YEAR

“Nearly four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian attack on a residential building in Kramatorsk that injured Ukrainian journalist Igor Levinok is yet another example of the tremendous risks faced by journalists reporting on the war,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. She urged Russia to stop targeting civilian infrastructure.

This month marks four years since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 — a conflict that has killed thousands of civilians and many more soldiers, while displacing millions.

CPJ also reported that on February 9, a Russian drone targeted two journalists from Latvian Public Media (LSM) in the Donetsk region. They were not injured.

Earlier in February, a Ukrainian public broadcaster, Suspilne, crew came under a separate drone attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region but escaped unharmed.

AT LEAST 21 MEDIA WORKERS KILLED SINCE INVASION

At least 21 journalists and media workers have been killed while working in Ukraine since the invasion began, CPJ said.

Media offices have repeatedly been struck, and journalists’ homes shelled.

Russia’s Defense Ministry did not respond to CPJ’s request for comment.

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