Russia deliberately attacking Ukraine hotels where journalists stay, say NGOs
Russia deliberately targets hotels where journalists stay, said two NGOs.
The hotels were located on the front lines.
Ukraine lost a second F-16 fighter jet.
Russia has deliberately targeted hotels used by journalists covering its war on Ukraine, the NGOs Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Truth Hounds said on Friday, calling the strikes 'war crimes'.
At least 31 Russian strikes hit 25 hotels from the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 to mid-March 2025, the two organisations said in a report.
One attack in August 2024 in the eastern city of Kramatorsk killed a safety adviser working with international news agency Reuters, Ryan Evans.
The hotels hit were mostly located near the front lines, the organisations said.
Just one was being used for military purposes.
'The others housed civilians, including journalists,' said RSF and Truth Hounds, a Ukrainian organisation founded to document war crimes in the country.
'In total, 25 journalists and media professionals have found themselves under these hotel bombings, and at least seven have been injured,' they said.
READ | Germany arrests 3 Ukrainians trying to send explosive parcels by mail
At least 15 of the strikes were carried out with high-precision Iskander 9K720 missiles, they said, condemning 'methodical and coordinated targeting'.
'The Russian strikes against hotels hosting journalists in Ukraine are neither accidental nor random,' Pauline Maufrais, RSF regional officer for Ukraine, said in a statement.
'These attacks are part of a larger strategy to sow terror and seek to reduce coverage of the war. By targeting civilian infrastructure, they violate international humanitarian law and constitute war crimes.'
RSF says 13 journalists have been killed covering Russia's invasion, 12 of them on Ukrainian territory.
That includes AFP video journalist Arman Soldin, who was killed in a rocket attack near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakmut on 9 May 2023.
He was 32.
Reuters reported that Ukraine lost an F-16 fighter jet on Friday morning after an incident on board, though the pilot ejected safely, the Ukrainian air force said in a statement.
'According to preliminary data... an unusual situation arose on board. The pilot moved the aircraft away from the settlement and successfully ejected,' it said on the Telegram messenger.
The air force said the pilot was feeling fine.
It indicated that the crash did not appear to be the result of Russian fire and a commission had been appointed to investigate all circumstances of the incident.
The crash is the second involving an F-16 since Kyiv began receiving the fighter jets from US allies in 2024 as part of a programme approved by the administration of former US president Joe Biden.
In late August 2024, an F-16 crashed and its pilot died while repelling a major Russian air strike.
Ukraine does not disclose the number of aircraft it has received.
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