A Russian newspaper reports that its journalist was killed in a drone strike in Ukraine

The Russian state newspaper Izvestia reports that one of its freelance journalists was killed in a drone strike near the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow accused the Ukrainian military of a deliberate attack on Alexander Martemianov. Ukraine does not comment.

“Izvestia” informs that the civilian car in which Martemyanov was was hit while driving on the highway in the zone of occupation of the Russian Federation.

Five other media workers were reportedly injured in the same attack.

“The Ukrainian army struck a civilian car with a drone, in which the freelance correspondent of “Izvestia” Alexander Martemyanov was located,” – reports the publication on the Telegram channel.

“The car was far from the contact line.”

The vehicle was returning after covering shelling in the Russian-controlled city of Horlavka when it was hit, the Russian state agency RIA reported.

As a result of the attack, two RIA journalists were injured, the agency added.

The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, called the incident a “premeditated murder.”

In her statement, she called it “another brutal crime in a series of bloody crimes” committed by the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The EU blocked Russian media outlets, including Izvestia and RIA, in May, accusing them of “spreading and supporting Russian propaganda and a war of aggression against Ukraine.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 15 journalists have been killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.