Alerts | Physical attack by state armed forces/military

Russian drone strikes car of Donbas.Realii journalist

Date:
Number of cases:
Regions/Countries:
Alert types:

On 20 November 2025, a Russian FPV (first-person view) drone hit a car in which Ukrainian journalist Serhiy Horbatenko was traveling, near Lyman in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. According to NUJU (Ukraine’s national union of journalists), Horbatenko, who works for the Donbas regional edition of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Donbas.Realii), was traveling together with an American volunteer towards Lyman, where they were planning to help evacuate local civilian populations. As a result of the strike, the car they were traveling in caught fire and burned down. The American volunteer, identified as Devon Masser, was wounded in the incident. Horbatenko escaped unharmed.

Become a member

IPI membership is open to anyone active in the field of journalism, in news media outlets, as freelancers, in schools of journalism or in defence of press freedom rights, who supports the principle of freedom of the press and desires to co-operate in achieving IPI’s objectives.

Become a member

Latest