Moscow, March 27 : Russian TV journalist Anna Prokofieva was killed in a landmine blast in Russia’s Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border, according to state media reports cited by Reuters.
Pervy Kanal TV channel stated that Prokofieva, 35, and cameraman Dmitry Volkov ran over a Ukrainian-planted landmine while on assignment. Prokofieva died, and Volkov was seriously injured.
Almost 20 media personnel have been killed since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Russia’s Belgorod region has experienced frequent drone and shelling attacks from Ukraine, with unconfirmed reports of ground fighting amid a Ukrainian retreat from Kursk.
Earlier this week, an artillery strike in Moscow-controlled Luhansk killed six people, including two Russian journalists and their driver, Reuters quoted Russian media as saying.
Moscow Times reported that Prokofieva had been covering the Ukraine war for Channel One since 2023.
Her last Telegram post, dated Tuesday, showed her in military fatigues, captioned: “Somewhere on the border with country 404,” a derogatory term used by pro-Kremlin bloggers to refer to Ukraine.
Russian drones attacked Ukraine’s major cities overnight, with Ukraine’s air force downing or jamming most of the 86 explosive drones and decoys in the barrage, Bloomberg reported.
Kharkiv and Dnipro were hit, with at least 11 injured in Kharkiv and seven in Zolochiv, according to regional governor Oleh Synehubov.
Dnipro’s central area was also struck overnight, injuring three people and damaging apartment blocks and infrastructure, regional governor Mykola Lukashuk said.
Potyomkin Palace, an 18th-century building in Kherson, was damaged in the attack, according to city mayor Borys Filatov.
The attacks coincided with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to France, where more than 30 leaders gathered for a defense summit to reinforce Kyiv’s position in peace negotiations.
