Former British soldier killed in Ukraine after Russian missile strikes hotel

Ryan Evans, who has worked with the Reuters news agency since 2022, was killed by a Russian missile in its ongoing war with Ukraine

A former British soldier, working as a safety advisor to support journalists, was killed by a Russian missile strike on a hotel in eastern Ukraine.

The body of Ryan Evans was recovered from the rubble of the Hotel Sapphire in Kramatorsk, after an attack which injured four other foreign journalists.

Reuters news agency said in a statement that it was "devastated" to learn of the death of Mr Evans, who was part of their reporting team covering the war in Ukraine.

"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," Reuters said on Sunday.

Two of its journalists were hospitalised after the attack, with one being treated for serious injuries, the agency confirmed. Three others are safe and have been accounted for.

According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, those wounded received "landmine-explosive injuries", including broken bones and cuts and bruises.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his condolences to the family and friends of the journalist who was killed in the attack.

"Today in Kramatorsk, the entire day was spent clearing the rubble after a Russian missile strike," he said in a post on X.

"A regular city hotel was destroyed by a Russian “Iskander” missile. Deliberately. Calculated."

Reuters news agency had said earlier on Sunday that one of their journalists covering the conflict was missing after the hotel was hit on Saturday.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: “We are aware of reports of a British national missing in Ukraine and are seeking more information from the local authorities”.

Associated Press reporters at the scene described the former hotel as “rubble,” with excavators still being used to clear debris hours after the attack.

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Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region also came under Russian fire, resulting in multiple civilian injuries, Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

In Kharkiv’s Chuhuiv region, five people were injured, including a four-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, after two houses were struck by Russian fire.

In Kharkiv city, eight people were wounded when a two-story house was set on fire by a Russian attack.

In Balakliia, a Russian strike destroyed six houses and damaged others. A 55-year-old man was injured. In the Kupiansk area, a house was set on fire by a Russian attack, wounding four women.

Meanwhile, five people have died in Russia after the country's border region of Belgorod was struck by Ukrainian shelling on Sunday.

The artillery attack wounded 12 other people in the village of Rakitone, leaving a 16-year-old girl in a critical condition, according to the region's governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

Another man also died in a separate drone attack on the border village of Solovevka, he wrote later on social media.

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