On 4 February 2025, a film crew with TSN, the news service of Ukrainian TV channel 1+1, came under Russian fire near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region, as reported by TSN. The town is located on the frontline separating Russian and Ukrainian forces, several kilometers from Ukraine’s border with Russia. Camera operator Pavlo Borysko was wounded, while journalist Oleksandr Motorniy was left unharmed.
According to TSN, the film crew was preparing a report on the work of Ukrainian drone operators near Vovchansk when Russian forces opened artillery fire on Ukrainian positions.
“The boys [Ukrainian soldiers] said that, most likely, there would be a [Russian] assault. They received a [drone] takeoff command. The guys took off, while Pasha [Pavlo] and I filmed the first takeoff,” Motorniy told TSN.
As Borysko began filming Ukrainian soldiers sending off a drone towards Russian positions, the group was itself targeted by a Russian drone.
Motorniy, who was seemingly in hiding at the time of the attack, said that he was at first convinced that Ukrainian positions had been hit by Russian artillery. The journalist said that he immediately went outside to inspect what had happened, and saw Borysko “covered in blood”, while a Ukrainian soldier who was accompanying him was reportedly even more seriously wounded.
Both were evacuated to a nearby hospital where they received necessary treatment. Borysko sustained multiple shrapnel wounds. His leg was also broken.
The regional prosecutor’s office in Kharkiv later opened a pre-trial investigation for war crimes, on the basis that Russian forces could have attacked the TSN film crew with premeditation.