Ryan Evans, a British security consultant who worked for the Reuters news agency, was killed and two other journalists wounded in a Russian attack on a hotel in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine on Saturday night, CNN reported.
Reuters had hosted a six-person team at the Sapphire hotel, part of its team covering the war in Ukraine. A spokesman for the news agency identified the slain security adviser as Ryan Evans, a British national who was assigned to the reporting team in Ukraine.
The news agency added that two of its journalists were being treated in hospital, one of them for serious injuries.
“We are urgently seeking further information about the attack, including in cooperation with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are supporting our colleagues and their families. We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan’s family and loved ones. Ryan helped so many of our journalists cover events around the world; we will miss him terribly,” the statement said on Sunday afternoon.
Evans, 38, a former British soldier, had worked for Reuters since 2022, advising its journalists on security issues around the world, including in Ukraine, Israel and at the Paris Olympics, CNN reported, citing the news agency.
Three other colleagues were missing and had suffered minor injuries, it was further reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in his daily address on Sunday that British and American citizens were staying at the hotel in Kramatorsk, adding: “My condolences go out to the family and friends. This is daily Russian terror that continues because Russia has the ability to continue.”
A spokesman for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are aware of reports of a British national missing in Ukraine and are appealing to local authorities for further information.”
The US State Department also confirmed that a US citizen was among the injured, but did not identify the person.
The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Vadym Filashkin, said that among the injured journalists were “citizens of Ukraine, the United States, Latvia and Germany.” He confirmed on Telegram on Sunday morning that the deceased was a British citizen.
Kramatorsk in particular has been the frequent target of Russian shelling since the conflict began in February 2022. As CNN reported, it remains one of the largest cities under Ukrainian control in the besieged east of the country.
In April last year, Russian forces carried out a missile attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk that was serving as a shelter for civilians fleeing the fighting.
In this one attack, which Human Rights Watch and SITU Research called a “blatant war crime,” more than 50 people died, including several children.
