The Russian state newspaper Izvestia says one of its freelance journalists has been killed in a drone strike near the Russian-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow has accused the Ukrainian military of deliberately targeting Alexander Martemyanov. Ukraine did not comment.
Izvestia said that the car carrying Martemyanov was hit while traveling on the highway in an area full of Russians.
Four other journalists were reportedly injured in the incident.
“Ukrainian forces launched a strike on an illegal vehicle carrying Izvestia journalist Alexander Martemyanov,” said a report on the Telegram channel.
“The car was far from the contact line.”
The car was returning from shooting in the Russian-controlled city of Horlivka when it crashed, Russian media outlet Ria said.
Two Ria writers, men, and two journalists from the local outlet Bloknot Donetsk, both women, were also in the car and were treated for injuries in hospital, Russian media reported.
Martemyanov, who has worked for Izvestia since 2014, was injured last year in an attack in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk but returned to work after recovering, his paper said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the incident a “deliberate killing”.
In a statement, he described it as “another heinous crime in a series of bloody atrocities” committed by the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The EU banned Russian outlets – including Izvestia and Ria – in May, saying they “spread and support Russian propaganda and a war of aggression against Ukraine”.
Before Martemyanov's death, the International Federation of Journalists said at least 21 journalists had been killed in Ukraine since the attacks on Moscow began in February 2022.
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