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A British national is feared dead after a Russian airstrike destroyed a hotel in Ukraine where Reuters journalists had been staying.
Reporters covering Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine were staying at Hotel Sapphire in the eastern city of Kramatorsk when it was hit by a missile on Saturday.
Initially, it was reported that two people were injured and one was trapped under the rubble – with Reuters news agency later confirming that one of its team members was missing.
On Sunday evening, Oleksandr Honcharenko, head of the city’s military administration, said: “The body of a British citizen who died during a missile attack by the Russian Federation was recovered from under the rubble of a destroyed hotel building in Kramatorsk.”
Four foreign journalists – aged 38, 40, 41 and 46 – also suffered mine and blast injuries, brain injury, a broken leg, concussions, cut wounds and bruises, said Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The Independent has contacted the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the report of the death. A spokesperson said: “We are aware of reports of a British National missing in Ukraine and are seeking more information from the local authorities”.
The attack on the eastern city was one of several Russian missile and drone strikes targeting northern, eastern and southern Ukraine that injured at least 37 people, according to the Ukrainian military and local authorities.
Overnight attacks targeted Ukraine‘s frontline regions of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk, Ukraine‘s air force said on the Telegram messaging app.
In the attack on Kramatorsk, which has become a hub for humanitarian workers and journalists, local authorities said Russian forces used a Iskander-M missile on the hotel.
Two women who were in their homes at the time of the attack, were also injured when the hotel was hit.
Russia has been pummelling Ukrainian border regions with strikes, and Kyiv said its surprise incursion earlier this month into Russia’s Kursk region aimed to hinder Moscow’s ability to stage such attacks.
“Most of the missiles did not reach their targets,” the air force said, adding that Russia launched an Iskander-M ballistic missile, an Iskander-K cruise missile and six guided air missiles. It did not specify how many were destroyed.
A missile attack on the northern region of Sumy killed one person, injuring at least 16 more, including three children, local authorities said on Telegram.
Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region in the east, posted that at least 13 people were injured in the Russian attacks, including a 4-year-old child.
Ihor Terekhov, mayor of Kharkiv city, said a gas pipeline was damaged in the city and at least two houses were destroyed and 10 damaged.
The strikes came as Ukraine’s forces advanced up to 1.86 miles in Russia’s Kursk region, taking control of two more settlements there, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his evening address on Sunday.
