Chinese journalist hurt by Ukrainian drone attack

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A Chinese TV journalist was wounded by a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Kursk region while reporting near targeted facilities, his employer said Friday.

Lu Yuguang, a reporter with the state-affiliated Phoenix TV, “was wounded in the head” on Thursday afternoon and was sent to hospital for treatment, the broadcaster said.

In a video circulated by Russian state television on Friday, Lu was seen speaking to reporters with a white bandage over his head.

Lu was with a film crew in the village of Korenevo at the time of the strike, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

It accused Kyiv of “deliberately attacking” journalists and called on “responsible governments to condemn” it.

Beijing’s foreign ministry also said it was “deeply concerned” that a Chinese journalist had been wounded.

“The Chinese side calls on all parties to commit to a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis and jointly work towards easing tensions,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.

China has portrayed itself as a neutral party in Russia’s more than three-year war with Ukraine.

But Western governments say Beijing’s close ties have given Moscow crucial economic and diplomatic support.

Meanwhile, a Russian strike on Friday killed three people and wounded more than a dozen in Ukraine’s industrial Dnipropetrovsk region, where Moscow has stepped up fatal bombardments.

Russian forces, which invaded Ukraine early in 2022, are vying to gain a foothold in Dnipropetrovsk for the first time in the war.

“Three people have been killed in an enemy attack. Fourteen people have been wounded,” regional governor Sergiy Lysak said of the attack on the town of Samar, outside the region’s main city Dnipro.

Russian forces earlier this week struck both Dnipro and Samar with missiles, leaving at least 23 dead.

Ukrainian military officials have said that previous Russian strikes near Samar hit Ukrainian military training facilities.

Moscow earlier this week claimed to have captured two more villages near the border of the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Separately, authorities in the northern region of Kharkiv said Russian attacks killed one person and wounded three others, without specifying where the attack had taken place.