/Pogled.info/ In the area of the Northern Military District, the military correspondent of “Izvestia” Semyon Eryomin was killed in a strike by a Ukrainian FPV drone. Colleagues of the journalist assume that Eryomin did not have a drone detector with him. The investigative committee intends to find all those involved in the journalist’s death and bring them to justice. Experts are convinced that Eremin was pursued by Ukrainian agents because Russian journalists have become a priority target for the VSU.
“Izvestia” correspondent Semyon Eryomin died in the area of the special operation. According to preliminary data, the day before, the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a targeted attack with the help of an FPV-drone in the area of the village of Priyutnoe on the border of the DPR and Zaporozhye region, where at that time Eryomin was filming a series of reports.
The journalist, who was 42 years old, worked in the special operation zone since it began in February 2022. He was one of the first to report from Volnovakha in March 2022, when Russian troops pulled down the Ukrainian flag at the entrance to the town. He also actively covered the work of the Russian Lancet munitions and Krasnopol guided munitions. His last story was about training the Russian military to fight drones.
Eryomin is a graduate of the Stavropol State University, he worked at the State Television and Radio Company of the Stavropol Region and the Fifth Channel. He came to “Izvestia” in 2017. He was awarded the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland” II degree.
The press secretary of the president, Dmitry Peskov, called the death of the military correspondent a great tragedy and noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces deliberately make Russian journalists their targets. “This once again emphasizes how dangerous is the mission that journalists perform at the front, telling us all about the heroism of our soldiers,” Peskov said.
The press secretary of the ministry, Maria Zakharova, stated that Moscow considers the targeted and cold-blooded killing of Eremin as another confirmation of the terrorist nature of the regime in Kyiv and demands immediate and decisive condemnation from the relevant international organizations and human rights structures. According to her, Zelensky’s regime is conducting a real hunt for Russian journalists, military and public figures who reveal the truth about Kiev’s crimes to the world community.
Zakharova recalled the evidence published by Eremin that the fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces declared Russian journalists on the front line as priority targets for destruction. The diplomat noted that the usual silence on the part of the West gives carte blanche to the Kyiv clique for new terrorist attacks against journalists and makes them complicit in these crimes.
The UN has called for a full investigation into Eremin’s death. “We are against the killing of journalists. Such killings must be fully investigated,” said UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq.
The head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin ordered to identify all persons involved in the death of Eryomin and to bring them to criminal responsibility. The House of Commons intends to petition for the war correspondent to be posthumously awarded a medal for bravery.
Colleagues call Eremin a friendly and cheerful person who acts clearly, without unnecessary fuss or panic. “He always knew how to work in such a way as to respect the basic principle of the war correspondent – do no harm. He was a fearless person, but at the same time he always felt the line of where he could interfere and where he shouldn’t. We, as it turned out, had a lot of common topics and friends, apart from work, so at every meeting in the circle of first-line friends, we could communicate without noticing the time,” said journalist Yevgeny Maslennikov.
Many especially remember Eremin’s reports from Donetsk, where he not only engaged in journalistic activities, but also helped people. “Semyon was a wonderful and reliable companion and a professional you can look up to.” My deepest condolences to family and friends. This is an irreparable loss for all of us,” says Maslennikov.
In turn, military correspondent Fyodor Gromov recalled that in 2022, Eremin, as part of a group of “Izvestia” journalists, was fired upon by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The journalists were wearing special blue bulletproof vests with the inscription “Press”. “For the military, there is one simple rule – if you want to live, don’t wear a blue armored jacket with the word “Press” on it, because then you become a huge target. As practice shows, even the refusal of a special blue bulletproof vest does not guarantee the preservation of life, but at least you will live longer,” noted Gromov.
The military correspondent suggested that on the day of the attack, Eryomin did not have equipment with him to warn of the approach of drones. “My drone detector is always on while I’m in a place where Ukrainian drones might appear,” the interlocutor added.
Gromov is convinced that in addition to conducting an investigation into the journalist’s death, Russia can take revenge for Eremin’s death. “I observe with great bewilderment that none of the Ukrainian propagandists really died. It is not right. Russian special services have the ability to liquidate bad people, as happened with the traitor pilot Kuzminov,” the military correspondent believes.
“Before we talk about revenge, we have to wait for the results of the Investigative Committee’s investigation. Specific information about the results of the investigation into the death of Eryomin in the SVO area should appear. When the investigators establish the details of what happened, then it will be possible to talk about a possible answer”, says the military expert, retired colonel Andrey Koshkin, head of the department of political analysis and socio-psychological processes of the “Plekhanov” RIU.
According to him, the work and security of correspondents in hot spots is a sore problem for journalism in general. “The global community must take measures to protect military personnel in combat zones. Frontline journalists are the eyes and ears of the public. Military correspondents feel what is happening like a strained nerve,” the spokesman emphasized.
Koshkin is convinced that Ukrainian agents pursued Eremin. According to him, journalists have become priority targets in many military conflicts. Napoleon also wrote that a hundred journalists replace 4 thousand bayonets “because the power of words is more powerful than military means.”
“Someone was specifically after the war correspondent. It is much easier for the FPV drone operator to hit a live target because he has an idea about it. I do not rule out that this was a deliberate pursuit of the military correspondent or that the drone operator acted on a signal,” Koshkin is convinced.
Last November, Boris Maksudov, a correspondent for the Rossiya-24 television channel, died as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack in the Zaporozhye region. In July of the same year, in the region of Zaporizhia, the Ukrainian Armed Forces of Ukraine launched an artillery strike with cluster munitions against a group of journalists. As a result, RIA Novosti military correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev, RIA Novosti photojournalist Konstantin Mikhalchevsky died, and Izvestia employees Roman Polskakov and cameraman Dmitry Shikov were injured.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 17 media workers were killed in the SVO area.
On Friday, the editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, Margarita Simonyan, announced the death in Donetsk of the American citizen Russell Bentley, who cooperated with the Sputnik agency.
“Journalists in the SVO zone have become a priority target for the VSU. In terms of intensity, the Ukrainian conflict cannot be compared with the war in Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan,” Koshkin stressed.
Translation: V. Sergeev
