5 people die in shelling of Russian border region, while Russian fire hits hotel with reporters – Winnipeg Free Press

5 people die in shelling of Russian border region, while Russian fire hits hotel with reporters – Winnipeg Free Press

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Five people were killed in Ukrainian artillery shelling in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, officials said Sunday, while Russian forces attacked a hotel in eastern Ukraine. One journalist was missing and two others were injured.

Twelve other people were injured in the Russian village of Rakitone, 38 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, including a 16-year-old girl who was reportedly in critical condition, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Russian forces attacked a hotel in the town of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region overnight, injuring two people and trapping one under the rubble, the region’s governor Vadym Filashkin said. All three were reportedly journalists from Ukraine, the United States and Britain.

An MSLR rocket is seen in the ground in a forest fire following a Russian attack near Sloviansk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

An MSLR rocket is seen in the ground in a forest fire following a Russian attack near Sloviansk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

The Reuters news agency said on Sunday that its journalist covering the war in Ukraine was missing and two other team members had been hospitalized after the Sapphire hotel, which housed a six-person crew, was hit by “an apparent rocket attack” on Saturday. “One of our colleagues is missing, while two others have been taken to hospital for treatment,” the agency said.

The rest of the team has already arrived, the news agency said.

In addition to the hotel, a nearby multi-story building was also destroyed, Filashkin said, and rescue workers are busy clearing the rubble at the site.