Two photographers came under fire in Donetsk region: documentary filmmaker Olha Kovalova was injured
While documenting the Russian-Ukrainian war, two Kharkiv photographers — Olha Kovalyova, project manager of the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers, and Vladyslav Krasnoshchok — came under fire from enemy artillery on July 19, 2024, near the front line in the area of the Toretsky direction in Donetsk region.
This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers.
It is noted that the photographers worked with artillerymen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. That day, the military fired several shots at the enemy and hid in the dugout together with the journalists.
According to photographer Vladyslav Krasnoshchok, while they were in the dugout together with the military, the enemy started firing back. He adds that 12 shots hit the field not far from the position. The 13th hit right into the dugout.
The photographer received a shrapnel wound in the armpit, supraclavicular suprathoracic area and arm, and a chest fracture. She was hospitalized. Krasnoschok and the military were injured.
"I have three shrapnel wounds. Two shrapnel were removed from my body. All of them were near large blood vessels. However, doctors are currently not taking the risk of removing one shrapnel so as not to damage something. Currently, my right-hand does not work completely," Olga says.
The military provided first aid to the documentarian, then she was evacuated to the hospital.
Olha Kovalyova said that a military medevac took her to the nearest field hospital, from there to a military hospital in Pokrovsk, and then to a civilian hospital, where two of her three fragments were removed. Now she is in a hospital in Kharkiv. Currently, her condition is stable.
"All the others who were in the dugout, fortunately, are unharmed. I was injured because I was sitting in the corner near the pipe - an improvised hood, from which the fragments fell.
I was saved by a bulletproof vest and a helmet. The shrapnel got to a place where there was no protection, - explains Olha. "It's a pity that it happened on the first day of the business trip."
Also remind, according to the Institute of Mass Information, in the two years since the start of the full-scale invasion, as of February 2024, Russia has killed 70 media workers in Ukraine. Of them, 10 died while performing journalistic tasks, 47 died as combatants, and 13 died as a result of Russian shelling or torture.
In total, in the 10 years since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, in the period from 2014 to 2024, 77 Ukrainian and foreign media workers were killed, 13 of them while performing journalistic tasks. As of March 2024, 20 Ukrainian photographers have died during the 10 years of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Someone performed an editorial task, and someone went to the front as a volunteer.
