British Reuters security adviser killed in Russian attack on hotel in Ukraine

CNN
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A British security adviser to the Reuters news agency was killed and two journalists injured when a Russian attack hit a hotel in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine on Saturday evening.

Reuters had hosted a six-person team at the Sapphire hotel, part of its team covering the war in Ukraine. A spokesman for the news agency identified the slain security adviser as Ryan Evans, a 40-year-old British national who was assigned to the reporting team in Ukraine.

Reuters added that two of its journalists were being treated in hospital, one for serious injuries. In a statement on Sunday afternoon, it said: “We are urgently seeking more information about the attack, including in cooperation with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are supporting our colleagues and their families. We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan's family and loved ones. Ryan helped so many of our journalists cover events around the world; we will miss him terribly.”

Three other colleagues were found and suffered minor injuries, the news agency reported.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in his daily address on Sunday that British and American citizens were staying at the hotel in Kramatorsk, adding: “My condolences go out to the family and friends. This is daily Russian terror that continues because Russia has the ability to continue.”

A spokesman for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are aware of reports of a British national missing in Ukraine and are appealing to local authorities for further information.”

The US State Department confirmed that a US citizen was among the injured, but did not identify the person.

Rescue workers discovered the body of a man under the rubble, said the head of the military administration of the city of Kramatorsk, Oleksandr Honcharenko, in an update on Sunday afternoon. He did not provide any further details and did not identify the body.

The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin, said that among the injured journalists were “citizens of Ukraine, the United States, Latvia and Germany.” He confirmed on Telegram on Sunday morning that the deceased was a 40-year-old British citizen.

The Reuters team managed to capture a video of the enormous damage to the hotel on Sunday morning. It shows rescue workers using flashlights to search through huge piles of rubble. Footage taken inside the hotel shows several destroyed hotel rooms.

The video also showed significant damage to the hotel's roof.

Kramatorsk has been a frequent target of Russian shelling since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine in February 2022. It remains one of the largest cities under Ukrainian control in the besieged east of the country.

In April last year, Russian forces carried out a missile attack on Kramatorsk railway station, which served as a shelter for civilians fleeing the fighting.

More than 50 people, including several children, died in this one attack, which Human Rights Watch and SITU Research called a “blatant war crime.”