Reuters safety adviser killed, journalist critically injured in Ukraine

Another member of a six-strong Reuters team in the area was injured but has since been released from hospital, while the remaining three were safe, Reuters said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other Ukrainian officials said the hotel in the city of Kramatorsk was hit on Saturday by a Russian ballistic Iskander missile.  Reuters said it could not verify whether it was fired by Russia or whether the strike was deliberate. Russia had not commented on the strike.

Safety adviser Ryan Evans, 38, was killed by the strike on the Hotel Sapphire. Ukrainian journalist Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey, 40, was in critical condition, Reuters said on Monday, while Ukraine correspondent Daniel Peleschuk had been discharged from hospital. 

The White House on Tuesday condemned the strike.  

"We condemn this attack in the strongest of terms and extend our deepest condolences to Reuters on the loss of one of their own," National Security spokesman Sean Savett wrote on X.

Evans, a former British soldier, had been working with Reuters since 2022 and advised its journalists on safety around the world including in Ukraine, Israel and at the Paris Olympics.

"We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan's family and loved ones. Ryan has helped so many of our journalists cover events around the world; we will miss him terribly," Reuters said in a statement.

The BBC quoted friends and family as saying Evans, from Wrexham in Wales, was a “gentle giant” A former army colleague said he was the "most humble guy" who knew the risks of the security industry but put others first.

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the killing.  

It said the missile strike, “is a sad and sobering reminder that the Russian-Ukraine war remains as dangerous for journalists and media workers covering it today as it was when the conflict started with Russia’s invasion of Crimea 10 years ago,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia programme coordinator.

“We condemn the attack on Kramatorsk’s Hotel Sapphire, where journalists and other civilians were staying. Journalists are civilians protected under international humanitarian law and need to be able to report on the war.”  

At least 17 journalists and media workers have been killed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the CPJ said.    

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