British man killed in ‘purposeful’ missile attack on journalists’ hotel in Ukraine
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A British man has been killed in a suspected Russian missile strike that destroyed a hotel in Ukraine.
Ryan Evans, a safety advisor for Reuters news agency, was in the Hotel Sapphire in the eastern city of Kramatorsk when it was hit during an airstrike on Saturday night.
Mr Evans, aged 38, was part of a six-person team from the agency staying at the hotel while covering the war in Ukraine.
Two of the agency’s journalists are in hospital with one seriously injured, Reuters said in a statement.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the hotel had been hit by a Russian Iskander missile in a “deliberate” attack. The Russian Defence Ministry has not responded to a request for comment.
Mr Evans, a former British soldier, had been working with Reuters since 2022 and advised its journalists on safety around the world including in Ukraine, Israel and at the Paris Olympics.
“We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan‘s family and loved ones. Ryan has helped so many of our journalists cover events around the world; we will miss him terribly,” Reuters said in a statement.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Evans was from the Cheshire area and had previously worked for nine years as an FCO operations manager in Libya.
Mr Zelensky said: “A regular city hotel was destroyed by a Russian “Iskander” missile. Deliberately. Calculated. Seven people were injured, and one person lost their life. My deepest condolences to the families and loved ones.”
He added the strike was “absolutely purposeful, thought out … my condolences to family and friends”.
The three other members of the Reuters team who were in the hotel at the time of the strike were accounted for and safe, the agency said.
The Donetsk province’s regional prosecutor’s office said in a Telegram post earlier that the body of a British citizen had been found in the rubble.
Four foreign journalists – aged 38, 40, 41 and 46 – suffered mine and blast injuries, brain injury, a broken leg, concussions, cut wounds and bruises, said Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
The US State Department has confirmed the injured included an American.
The hotel was “destroyed” at 10.35 pm local time on Saturday “probably with an Iskander-M missile”, it said. The prosecutor’s office has opened a pre-trial investigation into the strike, it said.
The Independent has contacted the UK’s 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, two women were also injured in their homes, local authorities said.
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.
