Radio Free Europe Reporter Killed In Ukraine Missile Strike

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – A prominent Ukrainian journalist of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) network has been killed in a Russian missile strike on her apartment building in the capital, Kyiv, her employer announced.

Vira Hyrych has worked as a radio reporter for RFE/RL since 2018. “We are shocked and outraged by the meaningless nature of her death at home, in the country and city, she loved,” Jamie Fly, the president of RFE/RL, said Friday. “Her memory will inspire our work in Ukraine and beyond for years to come,” Fly added.

The United States also expressed outrage. “This is an assault by the part of the Russian Federation on the Ukrainian state, on the Ukrainian people. But also on those who are doing nothing more than trying to spread the truth,” said State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

The bombing of the residential area in which the journalist died came after United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres visited Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president said the attack happened “immediately” after their meeting.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko told the media that one body had been found in the wreckage of the destroyed building and that ten people were injured.

Hyrych was the latest journalist to be killed in the ongoing Russian As of April 4, at least 18 journalists died in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, officials say.

“Today, every journalist is a hero,” stressed the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy. “We are grateful to everyone who covers the events in Ukraine. Every death and crime against the media will be investigated, and the perpetrators will be prosecuted,” the ministry pledged earlier.

Moscow denied hitting civilian targets. The Russian Defense Ministry said “long-range, high-precision” missiles hit a Ukrainian rocket manufacturing factory in Kyiv. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed that the factory was attacked.

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