Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on Kiev regime targeting China’s Phoenix Television crew

On June 26, in the village of Korenevo, Kursk Region, a camera crew from China’s Phoenix television network documenting post-conflict recovery efforts in that region came under a deliberate UAV attack by the Kiev regime militants. As a result of the Ukrainian drone strike, Moscow bureau chief of Phoenix Television Lu Yuguang who is accredited with the Foreign Ministry and has worked in Russia for nearly 20 years, sustained a head injury. He was taken to the hospital in Kursk and given proper medical treatment. 

We wish Lu Yuguang a full and speedy recovery. 

The Kiev regime’s gunmen and raiders continue committing crimes deliberately targeting not only Russian journalists and war correspondents, but all other media professionals who seek to objectively cover the events unfolding in and beyond the special military operation zone. The Press insignia on the crew’s clothing did not deter the Banderites, but instead marked the crew as a priority target. 

By systematically targeting unarmed war correspondents, journalists, cameramen, and photographers - essentially hunting them down - the Ukrainian neo-Nazis aim to suppress the truth about their grave crimes under international humanitarian law, including the deliberate killing of civilians which category explicitly includes media personnel. 

We call upon the responsible governments to condemn this and other atrocities committed by the Kiev regime and to speak out against attacks on civilians. 

We demand that relevant international organisations, particularly UNESCO’s Director-General, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, immediately respond to this heinous crime and issue a strong condemnation. 

The individuals responsible for the attack on Chinese journalists will be identified and brought to justice.