LIVE – War in Ukraine: Russian journalist killed by Ukrainian drone

Alexander Martemianov, a Russian independent journalist, was killed by a Ukrainian “suicide bomber” drone while traveling on a road in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported on Saturday, for which the man was working.

Alexander Martemianov was returning from Gorlivka, a town in the Russian-held Donetsk region bombed by the Ukrainian army, with colleagues when their car was hit, Russian state news agency RIA said. An RIA journalist and four other media employees were injured in the attack, the agency added.

In Russia, the Russian security services (FSB) said on Saturday that they had arrested four minors suspected of wanting to carry out a bomb attack “in busy places” in Yekaterinburg, in the Urals. Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian security organs have frequently announced the arrest of individuals suspected in particular of collaborating with kyiv.

The Russian army claimed Saturday the capture of the small town of Nadiïa in the Ukrainian region of Lugansk, which it annexed in 2022 and which it controls almost entirely.

In addition, four people were injured in a Russian drone attack in the South, according to the head of the municipal military administration of the large city of Kherson, Roman Mrochko.

Near the border with Ukraine, two people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack in the town of Chebekino, according to the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov.

On the front, a Ukrainian strike left at least ten injured in the town of Gorlivka, in territory occupied by Moscow in eastern Ukraine, according to its mayor Ivan Prikhodko.

Russia on Saturday promised “retaliation” to Ukraine after its firing the day before, according to Moscow, with American ATACMS missiles, a type of attack presented by the Kremlin as a red line in the conflict.

“These actions of the kyiv regime, which is supported by its Western guardians, will be subject to reprisals,” the Russian army said in a statement. Earlier, it said it had intercepted eight ATACMS missiles during this attack which were targeting the Russian region of Belgorod.

The Russian army claimed on Saturday to have intercepted eight American ATACMS missiles fired by Ukraine against its territory, a type of attack presented by Moscow as a red line in the conflict.

“Air defense assets shot down eight American-made ATACMS operational tactical missiles and 72 drones,” said the Russian army, which did not, however, specify whether this new Ukrainian attack had caused casualties and material damage.

Russian attacks killed at least three people in Ukraine on Friday, while Ukrainian fire killed two people in Russian border regions, local authorities in both countries announced.

A series of missile strikes hit the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigiv on Friday evening. “One person killed, 4 injured,” Dmytro Brijinskyi, head of the military administration of the city of Chernigiv, said on Telegram, specifying that the toll was provisional.

After its training in France, the “Anne de kyiv” brigade was deployed to the front. Upon their return to Ukraine, several cases of desertion were recorded and revealed by the press. kyiv said this Thursday that it had opened an investigation.

Welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the latest news from the war in Ukraine, almost three years after the start of the invasion by Vladimir Putin’s troops. Find here, throughout the day, the latest news surrounding the conflict.