A Russian FPV drone struck at an evacuation vehicle near Lyman (Donetsk oblast) today, 20 November. The car was carrying by Serhiy Horbatenko, a correspondent with the Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty project Donbas Realii, RFE/RL reported in a Telegram post.
RFE/RL said that the Russian forces had hit the car as it was on its way to Lyman to evacuate civilians.
The fiber optic FPV drone was lying in wait and targeted the evacuation vehicle. The crew included Devon Masser, a US volunteer with the humanitarian organization Plain Compassion Crisis Response, two police officers from White Angel (Donetsk police’s civilian evacuation unit), and Donbas Realii journalist Serhiy Horbatenko.
The volunteer who was driving was injured: he has shrapnel wounds to his face.
“We were driving when all of a sudden — bang, bang. I don’t really understand what happened. We’re here to evacuate people, I’m from the US. I’m a little confused right now,” volunteer Devon Masser said after he was given first aid.
The car burned down completely.
In a comment to Valentyna Troyan, the Institute of Mass Information representative in Luhansk oblast, Serhiy Horbatenko said that he had been wearing a bulletproof vest and helmet at the moment of the strike.
“My head and ears are ringing a little, but as for the rest, thanks be to God,” said Horbatenko.
He added that the car had the humanitarian mission’s logos.
On 23 October 2025, two journalists with the Ukrainian international broadcasting channel Freedom TV were killed in a Russian strike by a Lancet drone in Kramatorsk (Donetsk oblast): war correspondent Alyona Hramova (Hubanova) and cameraman Yevhen Karmazin. Special correspondent Oleksandr Kolychev was taken to the hospital with injuries. The journalists were in the car at a gas station at the moment of the strike.