British man killed in missile strike in Ukraine
A British national who was working in eastern Ukraine as part of a Reuters news team was killed in a missile strike on a hotel on Saturday, the agency has confirmed.
Safety advisor Ryan Evans was one of six Reuters employees staying at the Hotel Sapphire in the city of Kramatorsk – which is under Ukrainian control but near the front line – when it was hit.
Ukrainian authorities said the hotel was struck by a Russian missile. Russia has not commented.
In a statement, a Reuters spokesperson said the agency had been “devastated” to learn of Mr Evans’s death.
“We are urgently seeking more information about the attack, including by working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are supporting our colleagues and their families,” it said.
“We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan’s family and loved ones. Ryan has helped so many of our journalists cover events around the world; we will miss him terribly.”
It added that two other members of the team had been hospitalised by the strike and that one of them was being treated for serious injuries.
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The National Police of Ukraine said earlier that the body of a 40-year-old British man was recovered from the rubble of a hotel at 18:35 local time (16:35 BST) on Sunday after a 19-hour search.
Writing on Telegram, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky sent his “condolences to (the) family and friends” of the man killed.
“This is the daily Russian terror that continues,” he said.
Earlier, Reuters released footage showing parts of the hotel completely destroyed by the strike, with firefighters attempting to pick through the rubble.
The Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office wrote in a statement that the hotel had likely been hit with a short-range Iskander-M missile.
Kramatorsk is only about 20km (12 miles) from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, and has come under regular attacks, with civilians killed, including celebrated Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina.
The Russian military has been making slow but steady advances in the east in recent months, with Ukraine’s recent offensive into Russia seen as an attempt to draw troops away from the eastern front line. —BBC
UN Secretary General António Guterres has said he is “deeply concerned” after Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement mounted their biggest round of cross-border strikes since the war in Gaza began.
On Sunday, Israeli jets hit dozens of sites across southern Lebanon in what it said were pre-emptive strikes to prevent a much wider attack, and Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel.
Mr Guterres warned that their actions put civilians at risk, as well as threatening regional security and stability.
The US said it was working to avoid a further escalation in hostilities, and both sides suggested they were not interested in one.
There have been almost daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the day after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on October 7.
Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of the Palestinian group. Both are backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the UK and other countries.
Since
