Two Ukrainian photojournalists came under Russian artillery fire on July 19 while documenting the war in Ukraine from a trench near the front line in Donetsk Oblast.
Olga Kovalyova, senior project manager for the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPP), was evacuated and hospitalized after receiving three shrapnel wounds, the UAPP said in a statement. She is in stable condition.
Another photographer, Vladyslav Krasnoshchok, suffered a concussion but did not require hospital treatment.
"I was saved by a bulletproof vest and a helmet. The shrapnel got to a place where there was no protection," Kovalyova said, according to UAPP's statement. "It's a pity that it happened on the first day of the business trip."
According to the statement, two of her three three shrapnel fragments were removed, while removal of the third was deemed too risky.
"At the moment, my right hand does not work at all," Kovalyova said.
Krasnoshchok said they were in a trench with Ukrainian artillerymen who had fired at Russian forces that day, when the Russians returned fire. Twelve Russian shots hit positions near their trench in the Toretsk direction of Donetsk Oblast, before a 13th entered the trench.
According to the Institute of Mass Information, a Ukrainian NGO monitoring violations of freedom of speech, 70 media workers have been killed in Ukraine since the outbreak of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Of those 70, 10 died performing journalistic tasks, while other died after joining the army, or due to Russian shelling or torture. At least 30 media workers have been injured while performing journalistic tasks.
Dinara Khalilova
