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- Illegal target: Moscow will raise the topic of the murder of Russian journalists at the UN Security Council
Illegal target: Moscow will raise the topic of the murder of Russian journalists at the UN Security Council
Alexander Martemyanov was never afraid to fulfill his duty in the most urgent and difficult situations, his colleagues recall. On January 4, he was killed after an attack by AFU drones on the Gorlovka-Donetsk highway. The first deputy Russian ambassador to the UN, Dmitriy Polyanskiy, told Izvestiya that Russia would raise the issue of the attack on journalists during the next UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine. Meanwhile, the international organization has already commented on the death of Alexander Martemyanov, saying that the UN is against any attacks on media representatives. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the deliberate killing of Russian journalists was another brutal crime in the series of bloody atrocities of the Zelensky regime.
Dangerous highway
On Saturday, January 4, a civilian car carrying Alexander Martemyanov was attacked by a Ukrainian drone. It happened on the highway Gorlovka - Donetsk, far from the line of contact. According to the survivors of the tragedy, the journalist died of his wounds instantly. Four other people were wounded and concussed of varying degrees of severity during the attack. RIA Novosti journalist Mikhail Kevkhiev (he is in satisfactory condition) and Maxim Romanenko (he has a contusion and abrasions) were injured. Isabella Liberman and Svetlana Larina, correspondents of the publication Bloknot Donetsk, were also wounded.
The car at the time of impact
There was a big drone attack in Gorlovka, said journalist Isabella Liberman, who was working with Alexander Martemyanov that day.
- We miraculously avoided any dangerous situations, we had drone detectors. We waited them out in the courtyards," she said.
The journalists were returning to Donetsk after filming the shelling of civilian objects in Horlivka. Svetlana Larina from "Bloknot Donetsk", who was traveling in the same car with Martemyanov, met the war correspondent on the day of his death.
- It was obvious that this man loved his work and was passionate about it. He told me how to get around Gorlovka, showed me the paths, told me where I could ask civilians for help. He knew Horlivka very well," the journalist emphasized.
Photo provided by war correspondent Isabella Lieberman
Military correspondent Alexander Sladkov found out the details.
- "I just got in touch with Ivan Prikhodko - this is the head of Gorlovka," he told Izvestia. - His territory is from Gorlovka to Panteleymonovka. Enemy copters are still flying into the Panteleymonovka area and attacking vehicles traveling along the Gorlovka-Donetsk highway. The length of this highway is 49 kilometers. According to some reports, the guys were attacked in the area of Krasny Partizan. It rarely comes there, I was driving there recently. There are no burned cars or any hulks of equipment, which usually illustrate frequent attacks. It's a dangerous highway, though. Everyone takes risks there - civilians, military and reporters.
The AFU hits wherever they can reach, and they have no moral limits, military expert Vladislav Shurygin told Izvestia.
- Drones on the highway were catching cars - any kind of cars," he noted. - The AFU has long gone beyond the line where one can talk about morality.
Alexander Martemyanov worked in Izvestia as a freelance correspondent since 2014. For 11 years he recorded Ukrainian crimes while shelling residential areas of the DNR, and was the first to go to the aid and provide assistance to local residents.
Alexander came under AFU shelling on February 27, 2022 in the Pishchevik settlement and worked during the referendum in the DNR.
He was wounded on October 31, 2023 during the repeated shelling of the railway station in Donetsk by the AFU, he received shrapnel wounds.
He was awarded the medal "For bravery", the insignia "For services to the Donetsk People's Republic" of the III degree.
"Russian soldiers do not shoot at journalists".
- The deliberate murder of Russian journalists is yet another brutal crime in the series of bloody atrocities of the Zelensky regime, which openly resorts to terrorist methods to eliminate its ideological opponents. On the conscience of the Kiev clique are countless lives of innocent citizens, people of civilian professions, including journalists and military correspondents, who have fallen victim to deliberate attacks as part of the terror campaign unleashed by the Bandera subhumans against the peaceful population of Russia and their own country," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Russia's first deputy deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitriy Polyanskiy, told Izvestiya that Russia would raise the issue of the attack on journalists in the Donetsk people's republic during the next UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine. Meanwhile, the world organization has already commented on the death of Alexander Martemyanov, saying that the UN opposes any attacks on media representatives.
Head of the DNR Denis Pushilin expressed his condolences over the death of the Izvestia correspondent from an AFU drone strike.
"Alexander's materials about Donbass were courageous and objective, he was always at the forefront. One of the last investigations of the brave journalist was the December material about the shelling of Gorlovka with cluster munitions," the head of the DNR wrote in his Telegram channel.
Denis Pushilin added that Alexander Martemyanov gave his life for people to know the truth, having fulfilled his civic and journalistic duty to the end.
Izvestiya correspondent Alexander Martemyanov opened a mournful account of war correspondents' losses in 2025 with his death on January 4, said Vladimir Solovyov, chairman of the Russian Union of Journalists. He recalled that more than 30 Russian journalists have died since 2014. Last year, according to Vladimir Solovyov, four war correspondents passed away. Among them was Izvestia correspondent Semyon Eremin.
- FPV drones are one of the most dangerous factors. Ukrainian soldiers operating them are specifically looking for Russian journalists in order to destroy them. In violation of all international conventions, they are trying to silence the voice of truth, " Vladimir Solovyov emphasized.
He noted that now Russian journalists do not wear bulletproof vests with the inscription "Press," while those working for the BBC, CNN and other foreign media outlets wear ammunition with such inscriptions: they know that Russian soldiers do not shoot at journalists.
Vladimir Solovyov emphasized that it is important for a war correspondent to be able to stop in time.
- I always say that the task of a correspondent is not to die heroically, but to make a report and return to the editorial office to send information that will later be conveyed to the reader, listener or viewer," he said.
The murder of Oleksandr Martemyanov is another terrorist act of the Ukrainian regime, Kirill Kabanov, a member of the Human Rights Council, is sure.
- Journalists are in a special risk zone and require protection, " he added.
According to him, the HRC has repeatedly discussed the issue of granting war correspondents a special status. For example, "combat participant" or "combat veteran". Kirill Kabanov also noted that journalists working in the combat zone should receive social support from the state.
- So far we have not achieved these benefits for journalists, but we are talking about it, - emphasized Kirill Kabanov. - We hope that this issue will be resolved.
Military expert Vasily Dandykin told Izvestia that journalists are being hunted.
- We also had Poddubny under attack, and not only," he recalled. - There were terrorist attacks in St. Petersburg. And hunting with drones. The truth is deadly for the Kiev regime. That is why there are so many dead colleagues.
Russian journalists have become one of the most irritating factors for the military and political leadership of Ukraine, an expert of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Denys Denysov, has said.
- The Kiev regime is increasingly using terrorist methods, as the remaining resources do not allow it to demonstrate any victories. Often journalists working on the front line are strongly singled out, and therefore become targets for assassinations," Denis Denisov noted to Izvestia.
Ukrainian authorities since 2015-2016 have actually legalized the hunt for journalists, military correspondent Dmitry Astrakhan confirmed.
In October 2023, Izvestia correspondents Alexei Poltoranin, Alexander Martemyanov and Yevgeny Bykovsky came under AFU fire in the DNR. Then this situation brought the journalists closer together.
- Ukrainian militants again hit the station where the firefighters and war correspondents were. This is a favorite brutal tactic of the Ukrainian armed forces. I rememberthat Martemyanov helped me, while I was in shock, to get to the hospital," Poltoranin said.
Alexander Martemyanov was never afraid to fulfill his duty in the most urgent situations, continued to work even in the most difficult conditions, added Alexei Poltoranin.
