On 17 January 2024, Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Yevchyn was wounded while reporting near the frontline in the region of Zaporizhia, as reported by the Ukrainian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), where Yevchyn worked as a correspondent for the outlet’s Crimea Realities (Krym.Realii) project.
According to RFE/RL, a film crew consisting of journalist Dmytro Yevchyn and cameraman Mykyta Isayk came under artillery fire while filming a TV report near the settlement of Robotyne, which is the scene of heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces since Ukraine’s summer 2023 counter-offensive.
Yevchyn received a shrapnel wound to his the leg as a result of mortar shelling, RFE/RL reported. He and Isayk were evacuated to a stabilization point in a nearby village where Yevchyn was provided with first aid. He was later transported to a hospital in Zaporizhia city. According to doctors, the operation was completed successfully, however the journalist needed to remain in an intensive care unit for an unspecified period of time.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces opened fire on Yevchyn despite the fact that he was wearing a vest with clear “PRESS” markings.
“In modern war, artillery fire without correction from a drone is almost never opened […]. The Russian army inflicted damage on a person with clear “PRESS” markings on his bulletproof vest, which should guarantee […] protection under international humanitarian law,” the Ukrainian 10th Army Corps wrote on its Faceboook page.
Dmytro Yevchyn has been working in the Crimea Realities project since 2018, he was the host of TV programs and the author of stories about life in Russian-occupied Crimea. Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he has been covering military operations and reported from the frontline.
On January 19, the office of Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General said it had opened an investigation into the incident as a potential war crime.