Russian propagandist Boris Maksudov dies after a strike on Zaporizhzhia oblast

Photo: TASS

Russian propagandist, so-called war correspondent for "Rossiya 24", Boris Maksudov, died on the way to the hospital after coming under fire in Zaporizhzhia oblast, where he had arrived illegally.

This was reported by multiple Telegram channels, including Baza, as well as Russian mass media, such as the propaganda outlet RIA Novosti.

Maksudov was allegedly injured by a shell dropped from a drone.

According to the Telegram channel Baza, Maksudov was filming a video about the motorized rifle regiment No. 503 near Myrne village on the afternoon of November 22, when an explosive device was dropped on them from a drone. The man received multiple shrapnel wounds, open fractures of his limbs, and lost his fingers.

He was taken to the Tokmak military hospital and was to be moved to Canköy (occupied Crimea) at night. However, he died on the way.

The Russian propagandist Vladimir Soloviev wrote about Maksudov's death on his Telegram channel, saying that he had been reporting on the war since the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Boris Maksudov was mentioned by the ВВС last fall. On October 27, 2022, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck an oil depot in the temporarily occupied Shakhtarsk (Donetsk oblast). It was the second attack on the base in a few days; at that time the Russian mass media wrote that the new strike was enabled by a report from journalist Boris Maksudov, who had showed the aftermath of the previous attack in his story on the TV channel "Rossiya 24".

He was also known for creating the "Synergy University" – a series of classes for Russians willing to become military journalists and go to war in Ukraine – together with other Russian war correspondents.

According to the propagandist's YouTube channel, he has illegally been to Crimea, Donetsk oblast, and Chornobyl. All checkpoints on the Ukraine–Russia border are currently closed.

Boris Maksudov posted the results of his work on Vkontakte, calling Ukraine "in its current form" a "threat" and a "geopolitical callus and a tumor."

Maksudov called the parts of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops "liberated territories".

In his opinion, Crimea was the "Russian spring" and the Donbas was the "Russian fall". At the same time, he expected a "Russian winter" in Europe. "It better not be a nuclear one," he added.

As reported by the IMI, the Russian occupiers have opened an online "War Correspondent School" for volunteers from Ukraine's temporarily occupied territories and Russian citizens. The most "prominent" participants will be invited on a trip to the rear of the front line. Boris Maksudov was among the propagandists who were supposed to teach at the "school".

The IMI's screenshots from Maskudov's Vkontakte page