On 19 September 2023, a film crew with Sweden’s TV4 television channel came under fire from a Russian drone, near Zaporizhia in southeastern Ukraine. Reporter Johan Fredriksson and photographer Daniel Zdolsek were not wounded in the incident, however their Ukrainian producer Oleksandr Pavlov sustained minor injuries to his hand. Two Ukrainian police officers who were escorting the crew were also injured. The attack took place around 11:30 a.m., just as the crew left the car they were traveling in.
“This time we were lucky. The Russian attack drone hit right into the tailgate of our car, luckily no one was in the car”, said Johan Fredriksson, commenting on the incident.
The TV4 film crew was planning to record a report on the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the region, and the trip was planned and organized by the local police force, TV4 reported.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson denounced the attack, which he called “absolutely terrible”. “This [incident] underlines that war constantly affects people who are civilians and who are there for other reasons”, Kristersson said. “I assume there will be a very thorough investigation into what is behind this. It cannot be ruled out that this is also a consequence that Russia wants to see. That journalists should not dare to be there, that they should get as little coverage as possible of this war.”