Ukrainian Drone Strike Kills Izvestia Reporter Alexander Martemyanov, Injures Four on Civilian Vehicle in Donetsk

Jan 4, 2025, 06:22 PM

A Russian freelance journalist, Alexander Martemyanov, working for Izvestia, was killed and four other media employees, including one from RIA Novosti, were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on a civilian vehicle on the Donetsk-Gorlovka highway in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The attack, which occurred on January 4, 2025, was condemned by the Russian Foreign Ministry as a deliberate act of terrorism by Ukrainian forces. Martemyanov was returning from covering the aftermath of Ukrainian shelling in Gorlovka when the vehicle was hit far from the combat zone. The incident marks the first journalist death in the region this year, adding to the tally of at least 15 journalists killed since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.