A military armoured vehicle carrying an Inter TV filming crew was blown up by an anti-tank mine dropped on the road by a Russian drone in Donetsk oblast on 9 June, Inter TV war correspondent Stanislav Kukharchuk reported in a news story that was broadcasted by the national telethon United News on 13 June and posted to Facebook by the journalist.
The incident occurred near Dobropillya, which is under constant Russian shelling.
The car was carrying Stanislav Kukharchuk, cameraman Denys Kononenko, and servicemen with the National Guard’s Kara-Dag Brigade.
The big explosion stopped the car, but its armour withstood the blow, saving the passengers’ lives. The crew and the journalists suffered concussions, but no one was severely injured.
“We ran over an anti-tank magnetic mine that an enemy drone had dropped on the road. Even though the powerful explosion stopped the car, the armour and structure of the Ukrainian ‘Novator’ withstood the blow. The crew got concussions, but not a single scratch,” Stanislav Kukharchuk said in the news story.
After the explosion, the journalists and servicemen quickly unloaded the damaged car and left the scene on foot due to the high risk of repeated strikes by Russian UAVs.
Despite the concussion, the media crew continued working in Dobropillya and filmed the aftermath of Russian strikes in the city and National Guard units rescuing the locals.
As previously reported, Channel 5 war correspondent Olha Kalynovska suffered a concussion after being targeted by a Russian optical fiber FPV drone on 3 June. The car in which she was traveling along with servicemen of the airborne assault brigade No. 148, including the press officer, was attacked. The servicemen were also injured.