Reuters safety adviser killed in Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk hotel

Ryan Evans was staying at the hotel in Ukraine with a six-strong Reuters team. Two journalists were injured, one of them seriously.

Ryan Evans, a safety adviser with Reuters, has been confirmed dead after a Russian missile hit a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk where he was staying with a six-strong team from the news agency.

Reuters confirmed the death of Evans, a 38-year-old former British soldier, in a statement on Sunday.

Two of its journalists were injured, one of them seriously, and were being treated in hospital, the statement added. The three other members of the team were safe.

“We are urgently seeking more information about the attack, including by working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are supporting our colleagues and their families,” Reuters said.

Evans had been working with Reuters since 2022 and advised its journalists on safety around the world including in Ukraine, Israel and at the Paris Olympics.

“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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the hotel was hit by a Russian Iskander missile, a ballistic missile that can strike at distances up to 500km (310 miles).

“An ordinary city hotel was destroyed by the Russian Iskander,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Sunday, adding that the attack was “absolutely purposeful, thought out … my condolences to family and friends”.

Ukrainian prosecutors said the hotel was hit at 10:35pm (19:35 GMT) on Saturday and that the attack also damaged the building next door.

Kramatorsk, the last major city under Ukrainian control in its eastern Donetsk region, lies about 20km (13 miles) from the front line, and is often used as a base for aid workers and foreign journalists.

Many residents were heading to bed at the time the missile hit.

“I was watching a film on my phone and then… there was such a noise and the glass started smashing,” 66-year-old Natalia told the news agency, crying.

She said she had already been evacuated once after a similar experience but later returned. She would now “think about” leaving again.

“It’s scary to go to bed,” she said, her voice breaking.

Another resident, 84-year-old Vasily who lives close to the hotel, was fixing plywood onto his window frames after the glass smashed during the attack.

“We worry all the time… and now our turn has come,” he said, adding: “It’s about how lucky you get.”