Fakty ICTV camera crew comes under enemy fire on outskirts of Bakhmut

photos, video

A camera crew of Fakty ICTV has come under enemy fire on the outskirts of the Donetsk region’s Bakhmut, namely special correspondent Kostiantyn Melnykov and cameraman Dmytro Matviienko.

The relevant statement was made by the Institute of the Mass Information, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Journalists were working with the military, filming the performance of the infantry and the strengthening of Ukrainian positions. Presumably, an enemy drone detected them, and Russian troops opened fire in a few minutes. Other crews included also those of Suspilne and Sky News, according to Melnykov.

Journalists remained unharmed, but their car was seriously damaged.

Melnykov says Russian troops might have known they targeted journalists.

“It is difficult to say whether it was deliberately or not, as we were working with the military. But, all mass media representatives had their body armor and helmets marked. Considering that they, most likely, detected us with a drone, they knew that they opened fire on journalists,” Melnykov told.

A reminder that, according to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, at least 43 Ukrainian mass media professionals have been killed since the Russian armed aggression started.

Photo: Aleksandr Savchenko

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