Five people killed in bombing in border region with Russia as hotel with journalists hit by Russian fire

Kyiv, Ukraine — Five people were killed in a Ukrainian shelling in the Russian border region of Belgorod, officials said Sunday, while Russian forces attacked a hotel in eastern Ukraine, leaving a journalist missing and two others wounded.

Another 12 people were injured in the Russian village of Rakitone, 38 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, including a 16-year-old girl who is in critical condition, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Russian forces attacked a hotel overnight in the city of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region, wounding two people and leaving one trapped under rubble, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said. The three were reported to be journalists from Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Reuters news agency reported on Sunday that its journalist covering the war in Ukraine was missing and two other team members were hospitalized after the Sapphire Hotel, where a crew of six was staying, was hit “by an apparent missile 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 been located, the news agency said.

In addition to the hotel, a nearby multi-storey building was also destroyed, Filashkin said, and rescuers were busy clearing debris at the site.

Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region was also attacked by Russia, resulting in multiple civilian injuries, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

In the Chuhuiv region of Kharkiv, five people were injured, including a 4-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, after two houses were hit by Russian fire. In the city of Kharkiv, eight people were injured when a two-storey house was set on fire by a Russian strike.

In Balakliia, a Russian attack destroyed six houses and damaged others. A 55-year-old man was injured. In the Kupiansk area, a Russian attack burned down a house and injured four women.

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