AFP

Reuters: Team member missing after Russian attack on hotel in eastern Ukraine

A Reuters news agency employee is missing and two others were wounded in a Russian attack on a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, the agency said on Sunday. Twelve civilians have been killed in Russian attacks across the country in the past 24 hours. In another deadly day in the two-and-a-half-year-old war, six civilians were killed in Ukrainian attacks on Russian border regions, according to Russian authorities. The attacks on both sides came a day after Kiev celebrated its independence from the Soviet Union and after prisoners of war were exchanged between the warring sides. Moscow has continued its attacks and advance in eastern Ukraine despite Ukraine’s push into the Kursk region. A search-and-rescue operation was underway in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk after the Sapphire hotel, where six of its crew members were covering the war, was attacked late Saturday, according to Reuters. Kramatorsk – the last major city under Ukrainian control in the Donetsk region – is often used as a base for aid workers and foreign journalists. “One of our colleagues is missing, while two others have been taken to hospital for treatment,” Reuters said, adding that it was “urgently seeking more information”. The agency said “three other colleagues were missing” and said it was “cooperating with authorities in Kramatorsk and supporting our colleagues and their families”. Donetsk region chief Vadym Filashkin previously said two journalists were injured while one was missing and said the attack had taken place “in the middle of the night”. He said a rescue operation was underway and “the rubble was being cleared away”. – ‘It’s scary to go to bed’ – Ukrainian prosecutors said the hotel was hit by a Russian Iskander missile at 10.35pm on Saturday, with the attack also damaging the building next door. AFP saw authorities handing out plywood to locals so they could protect their windows. Kramatorsk is about 20 kilometers from the front line, and fear is growing for the town as Russian forces continue their advance into eastern Ukraine. Many residents were going to bed or resting at the time of the strike. “I was watching a movie on my phone and then… there was such a noise and the glass started shattering,” 66-year-old Natalia told AFP, crying. She said she had been evacuated once before after a similar experience, but had come back and would now “think about” leaving again. “It’s scary to go to bed,” she said, her voice breaking. Another resident, 84-year-old Vasily, who lives near the hotel, had to attach plywood to his window frames after the glass shattered during the strike. “We worry all the time … and now it’s our turn,” he said, adding: “It’s about how lucky you are.” The elderly construction worker said he had “seen it all” and had memories of World War II from his early childhood. – Twelve dead in two regions – Ukraine said Russian attacks on the war-torn Donetsk region killed seven civilians on Saturday, while artillery shelling in the border region of Sumy further north left four dead. Donetsk leader Filashkin later said another person was killed by artillery shelling in the frontline village of Ukrainsk on Sunday morning. Ukrainian police said Russia shelled about 50 settlements in the Sumy region on Saturday – from where Kiev launched its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. Kiev said Russia also attacked Kharkiv region at night, wounding eight people in the city of Kharkiv. In Russia, officials said attacks on the border region of Belgorod killed six civilians. Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said five people were killed in an attack on the village of Rakitnoye, and a dozen people were also wounded in an attack. He said 13 others were injured, with six in “serious condition,” including a 16-year-old in intensive care. Gladkov later said one man was killed by a Ukrainian drone strike in the village of Solovyevka further south. Ukraine holds parts of the Kursk region in an incursion that has forced more than 130,000 people to flee. bur-oc/rox