TRAGIC

Reuters Safety Adviser Killed in Strike in Ukraine

A safety adviser working with Reuters journalists was killed when a missile struck the hotel where the news agency’s team was staying.

A British veteran working as a safety adviser for Reuters was killed on Saturday night when a missile hit a hotel in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, the news agency confirmed on Sunday. Ryan Evans, 38, was identified as the Reuters employee killed in the strike. He was part of a six-person team covering the ongoing conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Two other Reuters journalists were hospitalized with serious injuries after the attack, while the three remaining staff members were safe. Evans, a former British soldier, began working with the news agency in 2022. He worked with Reuters reporters in conflict zones including Ukraine and Israel. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the news agency the hotel was struck by a Russian Iskander missile, and called the strike “absolutely purposeful.” However, Reuters has so far been unable to verify where the missile came from or if the hotel was targeted directly. Several other people, including two children, were wounded in a Russian strike in the neighboring Kharkiv region the same night, Associated Press reported. On the other side, five civilians were killed and 12 were injured in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian border region of Belgorod, authorities in the country announced the same day.