In a missile attack in Ukraine, a British man died.
Ryan Evans, a layer of security expert for Reuters, in an undated photo from Ukraine.
The British national was slain in a missile strike on a hotel on Saturday while working in eastern Ukraine as a member of a Reuters news crew, the agency has verified. Six Reuters staff members were sleeping at the Hotel Sapphire in Kramatorsk, which is under Ukrainian control but close to the front line, including safety advisor Ryan Evans, when it was struck.
According to Ukrainian authorities, a Russian missile hit the hotel. Russia has not offered any feedback. A representative for Reuters said in a statement that the news of Mr. Evans's passing had "devastated" the organization.
It stated, "We are supporting our colleagues and their families and are actively looking for additional details about what happened, including by collaborating with the Kramatorsk authorities." "We offer Ryan's family and loved ones our sincere sympathies and best wishes. We shall really miss Ryan, who has assisted so many of our journalists in covering events all across the world." It further stated that one of the other a pair of teammates was receiving treatment for significant injuries after being hospitalized as a result of the strike.
A forty-year-old British male body was found beneath the wreckage of a hotel on Sunday at 18:35 local time (16:35 BST), according to a statement made earlier by the National Police of Ukraine, following a 19-hour search. Volodymyr Zelensky, the leader of Ukraine, expressed his "condolences to [the] family and friends" of the deceased man in a Telegram post. "This is the ongoing daily terror that comes from Russia," he declared. Earlier, video from Reuters showed firefighters sifting through the debris as they showed areas of the hotel that had been totally devastated by the explosion.
According to a statement from the Ukrainian General Prosecutor's Office, the hotel was most likely struck by a short-range Iskander-M missile. Kramatorsk, which lies about 20 km (12 miles) from areas of Ukraine under Russian occupation, has frequently been the target of attacks that have resulted in the deaths of people, including well-known author Victoria Amelina. The latest incursion by Ukraine into Russia is perceived as an effort to divert forces from the eastern front line, as the Russian military has been making gradual but consistent gains in the east in the past few weeks.
