Kremlin calls Russian war reporter’s death in alleged Ukrainian drone attack a ‘big tragedy’

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Kremlin on Thursday described the death of a Russian war reporter in an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Wednesday as a “big tragedy.”

“This is truly a big tragedy. Each time the death of a journalist is a tragedy both for the team and for loved ones,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV.

Peskov went on to say that the Kremlin does not expect to hear a reaction from the West on the death of the correspondent.

“Unfortunately, we are now dealing with a very peculiar composition of leadership in European countries, which not only openly, almost officially adhere to some kind of double standards - It’s generally unclear what standards they adhere to,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Russian state news agency TASS reported that the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) announced the death of Boris Maksudov, a correspondent for the Rossiya-24 TV channel, following an alleged drone attack by Ukraine.

On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that Kyiv targeted a group of Russian journalists with a drone strike in Ukraine's front-line region of Zaporizhzhia.

Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the claim and independent verification of the Russian claim is difficult due to the ongoing war.