The International Press Institute (IPI) global network firmly condemns apparent efforts by Russia’s military to step up attacks on hotels and other civilian infrastructure popular among journalists working in Ukraine.
In just over a week, two such hotels were destroyed in the eastern city of Kharkiv, leaving multiple journalists wounded and leading other correspondents to end their reporting trips ahead of schedule.
On December 30, a Russian missile struck Kharkiv Palace Hote, which is located in the center of the city. Two media workers were wounded in the attack: Svitlana Dolbysheva, a Ukrainian translator and producer working for the German TV channel ZDF, who suffered various injuries, including fractured vertebrae and a bruised lung; as well as a British national working for the channel as a security guard, who asked to remain anonymous, and who was operated on at a local hospital before being released. The remaining members of the ZDF reporting team were not harmed in the incident.
On January 10, Russian forces carried out a new missile strike on Kharkiv, this time targeting Park Hotel, located close to the city center. At the time of the incident, the hotel accommodated several international correspondents, including a team working for France TV, as well as journalists with Anadolu Agency, Turkey’s national news agency.
As a result of the attack, three journalists required treatment by medical services: Violetta-Anastasia Pedorych, a Ukrainian producer for France TV; Anadolu Agency reporter Davit Kachkachishvili, who sustained minor cuts on his hand; and Anadolu photojournalist Özge Elif Kizil, who was transported to a local hospital as a precautionary measure, along with the two other journalists.
“Russia must stop targeting journalists, who are civilians and therefore never legitimate targets in war”, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen said. “We vehemently condemn the targeting of hotels and other locations frequented by journalists. Russia’s attacks on the media in Ukraine must be investigated by relevant authorities as potential war crimes under international humanitarian law.”
According to Ukrainian authorities, Park Hotel was known to be popular among foreign journalists: “Military personnel never lived in this hotel, almost all of Kharkiv knows this,” Volodymyr Tymoshko, the head of police of Kharkiv region, told Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne.
“[It] was used by journalists. This was a well-known fact. At the time of the attack, foreign correspondents, in particular from Turkey, were staying in the hotel. Therefore, I believe that the Russian Federation carried out this attack precisely on mass media.”
Russian authorities have refused to acknowledge that the attacks on December 30 and January 10 attacks in Kharkiv produced civilian casualties, with the country’s Ministry of Defence claiming to have exclusively targeted strategic and military infrastructure in the city.
