Moscow has denounced the attack on Kursk Region as yet another “bloody crime” against civilians

Yury Sholmov, a camera operator with Channel One, was wounded when a Ukrainian drone attacked his crew in Russia’s Kursk Region on Friday. Moscow’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described the attack as deliberate and condemned it as another “bloody crime” committed by Kiev against civilians.

The TV crew was targeted while filming on the front line in the village of Cherkasskaya Konopelka on Friday, when a Ukrainian bomber UAV dropped at least one explosive. The cameraman, who was reported injured by the explosion and wounded in the shin with shrapnel, received first aid at a local hospital and will be transferred for further treatment to Moscow, according to Acting Kursk Governor Alexander Khinshtein.

“By targeting unarmed military correspondents, journalists, cameramen, and photographers – waging a real hunt for them – the Ukrainian Nazis are seeking, by all means, to conceal the truth about their brutal violations of international humanitarian law and atrocities against civilians,” Zakharova said in a statement.

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The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman urged international organizations like UNESCO, the OSCE, and the UN to condemn the attack, warning that their silence could be interpreted as complicity and encourage further atrocities. 

“I am certain that this vile act of the Nazi regime should be met with the most principled assessment at the international level,” added Khinshtein, who had been a journalist himself before pursuing a political career. He urged all frontline reporters to take every possible precaution in their work.

Sholmov went on air with Channel One shortly after the incident, stating he would get treated “a little” and likely head straight back to Kursk to continue covering the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian region.

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The village of Cherkasskaya Konopelka is located southeast of the town of Sudzha, the largest community under Kiev’s control in Kursk Region. It has seen active combat recently, with Ukrainian forces launching multiple attacks in its vicinity early this month in an attempt to gain more territory.

The Kremlin has dismissed Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s hope for a potential territory trade with Moscow as “impossible.” Zakharova previously quipped that the only land that “neo-Nazis rampaging in Kursk” will receive is a grave plot.

Back in 2022, Sholmov gained international attention on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia, when then-US President Joe Biden was captivated by the cameraman’s impressive physique.

“There’s a man. I hope we’re on the same side,” Biden said as he moved in to squeeze the journalist’s bicep. Upon learning Sholmov was Russian, Biden remarked, “I don’t care who he is. He’s got some real biceps. We call ‘em guns.”