Russian War Correspondent Killed in Belgorod Shortly After Mocking Ukraine in a Post
Anna Prokofyeva, a prominent pro-war Russian television personality and correspondent for state-affiliated Channel One, was killed in the Demidovka border region of Belgorod, Russia. Her death occurred shortly after she posted a social media message mocking Ukraine, referring to it as "somewhere on the border with country 404," implying its nonexistence.
Her passing was confirmed by fellow war journalists and Channel One, which reported that she was killed when an enemy mine detonated while she was on assignment. Cameraman Dmitry Volkov, who accompanied her, was injured and hospitalized. Prokofyeva had previously worked for the Spanish editorial office of the Rossiya Segodnya agency before joining Channel One as a war correspondent in 2023.
Her death marks the third fatality among pro-war Russian journalists in two days, with another journalist seriously wounded. The loss was widely acknowledged in Russian media, with military blogger Vladimir Romanov describing her as "a brave, honest, and decent person" who died in the line of duty.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting Russian state media journalists, claiming they were "being hunted" despite wearing vests clearly marked with "Press" identification.
The incident follows the deaths of two other Russian war journalists in occupied Ukraine the previous day. Alexander Fedorchak, a 28-year-old military correspondent for Izvestia, and Andrei Panov, a cameraman for Zvezda, were killed when their vehicle was attacked in Luhansk. Their driver, Alexander Sirkeli, also lost his life, while Nikita Goldin, a Zvezda war correspondent, sustained serious injuries.
The conflict remains volatile despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, with the deaths of journalists underscoring the dangers faced by media personnel reporting from the front lines.
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