Ivan Shestopalov, a Kherson-based freelance photographer working with the news website Kavun.City, was injured and suffered burns when a Russian FPV drone targeted a civilian car carrying him on 26 August.
He reported this to IMI journalist Valentyna Troyan. The attack was also confirmed by the outlet’s chief editor, Yevhenia Virlych.
According to Shestopalov, the strike occurred as he was heading home with colleagues from his another job. The drone struck the car’s bonnet.
“I’ve got an injury to my left leg: a few shrapnel fragments hit my left foot, and there’s a small second-degree burn. I’m feeling a lot better now, and I might already be home by Monday,” the photographer said.
Shestopalov added that he had been working with Kavun.City as a freelance photographer for around two to three years. He plans to leave Kherson due to the safety situation and the injury.
Kavun.City chief editor Yevhenia Virlych told IMI that she was looking into ways to help Ivan relocate. Commenting on claims that the media worker had no accreditation or editorial press card, Virlych stressed that Shestopalov carried out assignments as a freelancer.
“Vania is a freelance journalist for Kavun.City. That is, we give him work within the limits of what we’re able to offer. Not everything he does requires accreditation, say, from the Ministry of Defence. He has a press card, and he carries out the tasks we assign him,” Yevhenia Virlych said.
Ivan Shestopalov himself has stressed that he did not yet have an editorial press card.
He also declined to comment on the claims shared on Facebook by Kherson-based journalist Oleh Baturin. Shestopalov said he did not know Baturin personally and considered the act of making such information about him public a violation of privacy.
Kavun.City chief editor Yevhenia Virlych responded to Oleh Baturin’s post. In a post on her own Facebook page, she explained the principles of the news outlet’s cooperation with journalists.
Virlych said that Ivan Shestopalov had worked with the outlet as a freelancer for a long time. According to her, the outlet deliberately avoids putting media professionals at risk, and so opts for a form of cooperation wherein journalists determine their own level of involvement and risk. She stressed that Shestopalov had regularly covered various events and taken photographs within permitted limits, and that his work with the newsroom was never a secret.
Yevhenia Virlych also rejected claims that there was no content by Shestopalov on the outlet’s website, explaining this with safety concerns.
“Searching by surname isn’t a proper audit of a newsroom’s team — ‘I couldn’t find it, therefore it doesn’t exist’ is not a very good argument. Especially coming from a journalist. I didn’t know every journalist in Kherson as well, I still don’t. Especially now, when even knowing too much or asking too many questions is dangerous, even between collegaues in the field. This is also stated on our website, where Ivan’s photo is also featured: what’s more, we’ve explained multiple times that we don’t name all of our journalists publicly — for some of them, it’s risky,” Kavun.City‘s chief editor wrote.
Virlych added that she considered Baturin’s post an attempt at discrediting the outlet, adding that she declined to comment on his claims personally since she had no time for debates of that kind and was focused on helping her injured colleague.
As reported earlier, Ivan Shestopalov, a freelance journalist for Kavun.City, was injured in a Russian attack on the Tavria shopping centre in Kherson’s Tavriyskyi microdistrict on 16 August.