On 18 October 2024, journalist Denis Klymenko came under Russian fire near the village of Lyptsi, which is located near Ukraine’s border with Russia in Kharkiv region, while reporting for Kharkiv-based outlet Gwara Media. According to Klymenko, who was quoted by the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), a Ukrainian press freedom group, Russians fired at the positions of a Ukrainian army brigade that Klymenko was staying with to report on their activities at the time of the event.
“We were in infantry positions, and while [I was] recording an interview with a soldier, the shelling of the forest in which we were located began, and it lasted for about an hour. The video actually recorded how several shells hit near the trench where we were sitting,” the journalist said. He added that no one was injured. “It was probably the first [time] I came under heavy shelling, it was scary, but everything ended well,” Klymenko said.
In addition, the journalist said that on the night following the event, a Russian drone localised the group and shelling began again.
“This moment was not filmed: about four shells whistled over us and fell nearby as well, but luckily no one was hurt and we reached the safe zone unharmed,” Klymenko said.