Ryan Evans, a safety adviser for Reuters, has been killed in what appeared to be a Russian missile strike on his hotel in Ukraine on Saturday, according to the news agency. He was 38 years old. Two other members of Reuters’ team covering the war in Ukraine were hospitalized in the attack, one of them injured seriously.
Evans was a retired British soldier who has provided support for Reuters and advised its journalists on safety around the world, including for their coverage of Ukraine, Israel and at the Paris Olympics. He began working with the agency in 2022.
He was with Reuters’ six-person team covering the war in Ukraine when he was killed in the strike on their hotel, the Hotel Sapphire, in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. Initially reported missing, Evans was ultimately declared dead after his body was found in the hotel’s rubble.
“We send our deepest condolences and thoughts to Ryan’s family and loved ones. Ryan has helped so many of our journalists cover events around the world; we will miss him terribly,” Reuters said in a statement.
The hotel was hit by a Russian Iskander ballistic missile, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
“An ordinary city hotel was destroyed by the Russian Iskander,” he said in an evening address Sunday, before adding that the strike was “absolutely purposeful, thought out … my condolences to family and friends”.
“We are urgently seeking more information about the attack, including by working with the authorities in Kramatorsk, and we are supporting our colleagues and their families,” Reuters said in a statement.
Three other members of the Reuters team at the hotel were accounted for and safe, according to the agency.
Reuters noted that the Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to its request for comment on the attack and the news organization could not independently verify whether the missile that hit the hotel was part of a deliberate strike or if Russia did indeed fire the missile.
The Donetsk province’s regional prosecutor’s office said in a Telegram post that the hotel was “destroyed” at 10:35 p.m. local time on Saturday.
