War reporter Alyona Hramova (Hubanova) and cameraman Yevhen Karmazin of the Ukrainian international channel Freedom TV were killed in a Russian Lancet drone strike in Kramatorsk (Donetsk oblast) today, 23 October, Donetsk Oblast Military Administration chair Vadym Filashkin reported in a Facebook post.
“Since the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, they had been reporting on the situation in the region, telling the truth about the enemy’s crimes, the evacuation of civilians, the stories of our defenders. They worked in the hottest spots of Donetsk oblast, were always the first to arrive everywhere,” Filashkin said.
Freedom TV team later added that the incident also involved special correspondent Oleksandr Kolychev, who was taken to the hospital with injuries. At the moment of the strike, the journalists were in their car at a gas station.
Alyona Hramova worked in the hottest spots of Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts constantly. She was a financier by education, but realised with the start of the Russian aggression that her calling was journalism.
“For me, the war began in 2014. Kramatorsk, where I lived, was occupied for a little over two months, but I witnessed a lot during these two months. Yes, the war began in 2014, but I was not a journalist back then, I was just an ordinary citizen of Ukraine, later becoming a volunteer. We went through a lot during this time,” Alyona said in an interview.
Alyona Hramova was born in Yenakiyeve, Donetsk oblast. She was a war reporter for Ukraine’s international broadcasting channels since 2021. In June 2023, she was awarded the Princess Olha Order, 3rd rank. Alyona Hramova died aged 43.
Yevhen Kramazin was born in Kramatorsk, Donetsk oblast. He worked as an cameraman for Ukraine’s international broadcasting channels since 2022. Yevhen was 33.
(Update) Donbas Realii correspondent Serhiy Horbatenko reports that the crew was filming the aftermath of an earlier Russian strike on the same gas station. Donbas Realii shared photos and footage from the scene of the journalists’ deaths.
In a comment to Valentyna Troyan, the Institute of Mass Information representative in Luhansk oblast, Serhiy Horbatenko said that he had been to the targeted gas station on 22 October, after it was first hit by a Lancet drone.
“The UAV strikes intensified yesterday: they hit a windmill, a mass trade facility, and a gas station. And today, a Lancet hit the same spot again,” said Horbatenko.
He believes that the Russian troops targeted the media outlet’s car deliberately.
“Today, they attacked the journalists who were recording the aftermath of yesterday’s strike. The Lancet is a precise weapon, so they did choose their target,” the correspondent added.
The National Police reported the Lancet drone targeted a car today at a gas station at about 9:37 a.m. Three TV crew was recording the aftermath of an earlier shelling strike on the city at that moment. A man aged 33 and a woman aged 43 were fatally wounded. Another man, 47, was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds and bone fractures. Police are documenting the impact of the attack.
According to the Institute of Mass Information, 15 media workers have been killed while reporting in the course of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as of 23 October.
As reported earlier, Oleksandr Urvantsev, cameraman with the Chernihiv-based Dytynets TV, was killed in combat in Kharkiv oblast on 7 October. He was a UAV operator.
Updated at 16:45
The TV channel told IMI that the crew was driving a civilian car. The Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office has launched a pre-trial investigation into a war crime (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The channel reported that the crew had arrived to film a news story about the Russian strike at the gas station that took place the day before, on 22 October. Then they were supposed to go to film the aftermath of a Russian drone attack at a market in Kramatorsk.
Oleksandr Kolychev is now in serious condition in the hospital. He has suffered an explosive injury, multiple shrapnel wounds to the head and body, an open bone fracture, and burns.
You can donate to support the families of the deceased journalists via Monobank.