MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko has called the Ukrainian shelling of Russian reporters a despicable murder and atrocity.

"We have seen that the UN has condemned this despicable murder. UNESCO has also issued a strong condemnation, calling for an investigation into how this could have happened. This is important, but it is no less important that these words are followed by concrete actions, so that another atrocity by the Ukrainian regime does not go unpunished," she said at a press conference on the results of the upper house of parliament’s spring session, commenting on an attack by Ukrainian forces on Russian journalists that killed RIA Novosti war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev.

According to the senator, "it is obvious and clear that the responsibility for this lies not only with Kiev, but also with Washington." "For our part, we will do everything to highlight this atrocity to our foreign colleagues and international interparliamentary platforms," she promised.

Matviyenko expressed her condolences to Zhuravlev's family and friends, his colleagues and the entire journalistic community. "A young, talented, professional man who honestly fulfilled his duty and dedicated his life to a very important cause for society - journalism - has died," she said. The senator also supported a petition to award Zhuravlev posthumously.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that on July 22 four journalists from Izvestia and RIA Novosti received various injuries as a result of a Ukrainian attack in the Zaporozhye Region using cluster munitions. RIA Novosti war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev died while being evacuated; the other victims were described as being in stable condition.