Ukrainian artillery attack on Luhansk region kills 6 people, including Russian journalists

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Six people, including three journalists, were killed in a Ukrainian artillery strike on its eastern Luhansk region, Russian authorities said Monday.

A correspondent for the daily newspaper Izvestia, Alexander Fedorchak, and two employees of the Zvezda TV channel -- cameraman Andrey Panov and driver Alexander Sirkeli -- were killed in the strike, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement.

The committee added that it opened a criminal case following the incident.

A 14-year-old teenager and a correspondent for the Russian state news agency TASS, Mikhail Skuratov, were also injured, receiving shrapnel wounds.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova strongly condemned Ukraine's actions, pledging to seek a reaction from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes international collaboration through education, science and culture, aiming to build peace and sustainable development, to increase respect for justice, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Commenting on the incident in a separate statement, the UN Secretary-General's office said the UN opposes the killing of journalists and wants such incidents to be thoroughly investigated.