Camilla Jessen
A new report claims Russia is deliberately bombing hotels where journalists stay.
Russia is being accused of deliberately targeting hotels in Ukraine that are known to house journalists, in what two rights organizations are calling a systematic campaign to stifle press coverage of the war.
According to a joint report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Ukrainian NGO Truth Hounds, at least 31 Russian strikes have hit 25 hotels between February 2022 and March 2025—mostly in frontline areas like Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipro, Odessa, and Kyiv.
The report says only one of these hotels had any military presence.
The rest were used by civilians, including 25 journalists and media workers, several of whom were injured or killed.
Strikes Labeled “Coordinated and Methodical”
“These attacks are neither accidental nor random,” said Pauline Maufrais, RSF’s head of Ukraine, to Digi24. “They are intended to reduce journalistic coverage of the war.”
According to the report, 15 of the attacks were carried out using Iskander 9K720 missiles, a high-precision weapon system used by Russian forces.
Most strikes occurred at night, when hotels were at their most full.
One of the most tragic incidents was the death of Ryan Evans, a British security advisor working with Reuters journalists, who was killed in August 2024 during a strike on a hotel in Kramatorsk.
At least seven other journalists have been wounded in similar incidents.
Journalism Under Fire
The report frames these attacks as part of a broader effort to “silence journalists” and control the narrative of the war through both physical threats and Kremlin disinformation, which frequently labels hotels as military targets or mercenary hubs to justify strikes.
“By targeting civilian infrastructure, including journalists, Russia is violating international law,” Maufrais added. “These are war crimes, and those responsible must be held accountable.”
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 13 journalists have been killed while reporting, according to RSF. Twelve of them died on Ukrainian soil.
In RSF’s 2025 Press Freedom Index, Ukraine ranks 62nd out of 180 countries, while Russia lags near the bottom at 171st.