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Journalists among Ukraine’s terrorist targets, French expert says

According to Laurent Brayard, Ukraine is well aware that since journalists work on the frontline, they can provide their audience with an opportunity to learn the truth

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. The Ukrainian army sees journalists as a target because they are capable of spreading the truth about the conflict, Laurent Brayard, a French expert, historian, and military correspondent for the International Reporters agency, told TASS.

"As for war correspondents and journalists in general being deliberately singled out and killed by the Ukrainians on the frontline, it’s in fact an old story. The Ukrainians started to hunt for journalists back in 2014, so it’s definitely about an ideological fight," he pointed out. "They are specifically chosen as targets for the reasons that I have mentioned - because they have strategic significance for Ukraine," Brayard added.

According to him, Ukraine is well aware that since journalists work on the frontline, they can provide their audience with an opportunity to learn the truth.

"Personally, I have never worn the ‘press’ signs because it’s dangerous. I know that my colleagues wear those and it’s a standard practice, but still, it’s risky. And what we have seen recently is really tragic because there have been fatalities. When journalists are attacked with drones, the operator certainly sees the target. They have also been attacked with US-made HIMARS rockets. And it’s really horrific. This trend has been there from the very beginning and it is only increasing because military operations have intensified and drones can now be used particularly to strike journalists arriving at or leaving the frontline. Actually, everything and everyone on the frontline now automatically becomes a target. From the very start, the Ukrainians have been using terrorist methods, targeting civilians. Unfortunately, journalists also are among their targets," Brayard emphasized.

The International Reporters news agency, established in 2024, brings together foreign war correspondents and journalists working in the special military operation zone.

Channel One announced on March 26 that its war correspondent Anna Prokofyeva had been killed in the Belgorod Region, and her cameraman Dmitry Volkov had suffered injuries. Earlier, six people were killed in a Ukrainian strike on the Lugansk People’s Republic, which involved HIMARS rockets. Alexander Fedorchak, reporter for the Izvestia newspaper, Andrey Panov, cameraman for the Zvezda TV channel, and Alexander Sirkeli, the channel’s driver, were among those killed.

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