"Nakypilo" journalist Anna Miasnykova wounded in the January 23 strike on Kharkiv

Photo by Anna Miasnykova

"Nakypilo" journalist Anna Miasnykova was injured in the Russian strike on Kharkiv on the evening of January 23. She is currently in the hospital with a broken shin.

This was reported by the IMI representative in the Kharkiv oblast, who spoke with the injured journalist.

The Russian troops targeted a street in downtown Kharkiv on January 23 at 10:04 p.m. The journalist was on her way home from work when the missile hit.

At the moment of the impact, Anya was recording a voice message for the work chat, where you can hear the second explosion and glass shattering. After that, the journalist found cover, gave herself first aid and waited for the ambulance.

The voice message recorded by Anna during the January 23 strike, audio provided to the IMI by Anna

As a result of the impact, Miasnykova was wounded by shrapnel and had a fractured shin; that night, she had a surgery and was put in a plaster cast. Now Anna is in the hospital.

Journalist Anna Myasnikova broke her shin in the Russian strike on Kharkiv. Photo by Anna Miasnykova on Facebook.

Photo provided to the IMI by Anna Miasnykova

"The explosion happened a few dozen meters away from me. I didn't have the time to get scared, and I didn't immediately understand what was wrong with my leg. I only felt pain. I think having previously taken first aid classes helped me to quickly figure out what to do and that I should get away from the explosion's epicenter first. And it was a good call, because there was a second explosion after that," Anna said.

"You have to constantly check what you're carrying, although I'm still grateful that I had at least this one bandage with me. I bandaged my leg, but I could not fix it in place, so I held it down with my hands despite the pain. There was almost no connection in the basement, I barely got through to the ambulance service and gave them the address. I couldn't text anyone, but I managed to call my colleague, who was closest to me, and we were in touch with him the entire time," commented Anna Miasnykova.

The shell fragment that wounded the journalist. Photo by Anna Miasnykova on Facebook

The strike injured nine people in total, including a four-year-old child. The Kharkiv police have started pre-trial investigations into violations of the laws and customs of war (Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported.

We remind you that the strike targeted the center of the city, where there are no military facilities, and this is yet another act of aggression against Ukraine's civilians by Russia.

On December 30, 2023, and January 10, 2024, the Russians shelled two Kharkiv hotels often used by international media. The strike on the Kharkiv Palace hotel injured the Ukrainian interpreter for the German ZDF, Svitlana Dolbysheva, and the ZDF crew's safety advisor, who is a British citizen. The strike on the Park Hotel also affected the crew of the Turkish news agency Anadolu, namely the journalist Davit Kachkachishvili, who had minor cuts on his hands. The strike destroyed their car, which was parked nearby. The journalists said that they were shocked by the audacity of the Russians, since this site was exclusively civilian and no military personnel were present. The Ukrainian fixer for the TV channel France 2, Violetta Pedorych, was also injured by the strike.

Volodymyr Tymoshko, the head of the Kharkiv Oblast National Police HQ, said that Russia's targeting of the Park Hotel was a deliberate attack on journalists. All the victims were civilians and the hotel was mostly used by foreign journalists.

The IMI monitors Russia's crimes against the media and journalists in Ukraine. In the year and eleven months since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has committed 558 crimes against journalists and media in Ukraine. Every person's primary task right now is to survive, so do not neglect the safety rules at home and at work.