The team of the German publication Die Welt in Ukraine, hit by a Russian drone attack. Three people were injured
Germany's Die Welt chief reporter Ibrahim Naber and his team were attacked by a Russian Lancet drone while working in eastern Ukraine on October 13, injuring him and two other team members.
The incident took place in eastern Ukraine PHOTO Ibrahim Naber / X
Naber reported on October 28 that his team had just finished interviewing a Ukrainian soldier in an air defense unit about 25-30 kilometers from the front line when the Lancet drone struck — killing the soldier he had interviewed. Another soldier was seriously injured and had his leg amputated, the journalist added, according to the Kyiv Independent.
The news team was just meters away from the three anti-aircraft crew members, who were on a mission to shoot down long-range Russian drones aimed at Ukrainian cities, according to Naber.
“They saved many lives — before the attack hit them”he said.
The Russian drone attack on Naber's team comes at a time when it is becoming increasingly dangerous for journalists to work near the frontline in Ukraine, as Russia expands its “kill zone” by using its vast stockpile of drones capable of penetrating deeper into Ukrainian territory. In October, two Russian drone attacks killed three journalists working in eastern Donetsk region.
Ukrainian producer Ivan Zakharenko, who was working with Naber, suffered the worst wound of Die Welt's team, with one of two pieces of shrapnel still lodged in his leg, according to the German journalist.
Just days before, on October 23, Ukrainian journalist Olena Hramova and her cameraman, Yevhen Karmazin, working for Freedom TV, were killed in a Russian drone attack in Kramatorsk.
Earlier this month, French photojournalist Antoni Lallican was killed and Ukrainian photographer Heorhii Ivanchenko was seriously injured in a drone attack on October 3 while working alongside the 4th Mechanized Brigade in the Donetsk region.
By October 9, Russia had killed at least 133 media workers in Ukraine — including those who joined the army — and committed 848 crimes against journalists and media outlets, according to the Institute for Mass Intelligence (IMI).
