A devastating Russian missile strike on a hotel in eastern Ukraine has resulted in the death of a Reuters safety adviser and injured two journalists.
Ryan Evans, a former British soldier, was part of a six-person team staying at the Hotel Sapphire in Kramatorsk when the Russian Iskander missile struck on Saturday night. The blast reduced the hotel to rubble, and Evans’ body was recovered on Sunday after excavators cleared the debris.
Two journalists were injured in the attack, with one receiving treatment for serious injuries. Evans had been working with Reuters since 2022, providing safety advice to journalists in Ukraine, Israel, and at the Paris Olympics.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, expressing his condolences to the family and friends of the victims. “This is a daily Russian terror that continues because Russia has the ability to continue,” he said.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that a U.S. citizen was injured in the attack, but did not release the person’s identity. The strike on the Hotel Sapphire is the latest in a series of attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, including a devastating strike on a train station in Kramatorsk in April 2022 that killed over 50 people and injured more than 100.
Kramatorsk, a city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, has a population of around 150,000 and has been a frequent target of Russian attacks. The city has been a key location for Ukrainian forces and has seen intense fighting throughout the conflict.
