Two Ukrainian journalists killed and one injured in Russian drone attack in Kramatorsk

Freedom TV journalist Olena Hramova and cameraman Yevhen Karmazin were killed in a Russian drone strike on Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, on October 23, regional governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

Later the same day, Freedom TV confirmed that special correspondent Oleksandr Kolychev was also injured in the attack and hospitalized. The three journalists had been on assignment in the region when a Russian Lancet kamikaze drone struck their vehicle.

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, saying Russia “continues to target journalists who are documenting its war against Ukraine — killing them and wounding them.”

The deaths of Hramova and Karmazin mark another devastating loss for Ukraine’s press community, which continues reporting from front-line areas under constant threat of Russian attacks. Freedom TV’s newsroom in Kyiv has already been destroyed twice by Russian missile strikes in 2025.

Russia has repeatedly targeted journalists and media infrastructure since launching its full-scale invasion. As of October 9, the Institute of Mass Information (IMI) has documented at least 133 media workers killed in Ukraine — including those serving in the military — and 848 crimes against journalists and media outlets.

Russian troops shot six civilians in Donetsk Oblast, one woman survived

Russian forces shot and killed six civilians in the village of Zvanivka in the Bakhmut district of Donetsk Oblast, according to the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office.

On October 20, a husband, wife, and their adult son were sheltering in the basement of their home, while their younger son had gone to a neighbor’s house to fetch water. Russian soldiers entered the shelter and interrogated the family about Ukrainian troop positions. When the family could not provide any information, the soldiers left — but one soon returned and opened fire on the unarmed civilians.

Believing everyone inside to be dead, the soldier left the scene. However, the 57-year-old woman regained consciousness to find her husband and sons dead. Fearing for her younger son, she went to the neighbor’s home, where she discovered his body alongside the remains of a 62-year-old woman and her 30-year-old son, both shot dead.

Despite suffering a gunshot wound to the jaw, the survivor managed to reach Ukrainian-controlled territory and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Prosecutors have questioned her and documented evidence of another Russian war crime against civilians.

A pre-trial investigation has been launched under the supervision of the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office. Investigators are working to identify the Russian soldiers responsible for the killings.

Kremlin’s Children’s Commissioner Admits to “Re-Educating” Teen from Mariupol, Exposing Russia’s Role in Forced Deportations

Kremlin-appointed Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova has once again personally implicated herself in Russia’s campaign to deport and indoctrinate Ukrainian children.

In an interview on Empatia Manuchi ( Russian propaganda YouTube channel that specialized on interviews with famous Russians who support war and Putin`s regime, no longer availabe due to its blockage by YouTube) published on October 6, Lvova-Belova discussed adopting a teenage boy from occupied Mariupol.

She recounted that the boy initially “loved Ukraine” and rejected life in Russia, saying his views created “a complicated atmosphere” in her household. Lvova-Belova claimed she told him he must change his attitude because he now lives in Russia, adding that he “gradually began to change” and no longer wants to return to Ukraine.

Lvova-Belova has previously publicized her adoption of the 15-year-old, likely as part of an effort to encourage other Russian families to adopt Ukrainian children. In August 2022, she spoke openly about her attempts to “re-educate” the boy, saying he had initially boasted about participating in pro-Ukrainian rallies and even threatened Russian peers.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Lvova-Belova in March 2023 for her role in the deportation of Ukrainian children. Independent investigations, including by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, estimate that Russia has deported more than 35,000 Ukrainian minors since the start of the full-scale invasion.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) continues to assess that Russia’s systematic deportation and forced adoption of Ukrainian children could constitute an act of genocide under the UN Genocide Convention, which defines the forcible transfer of children from one national group to another as a punishable crime.