A RUSSIAN TV war journalist has been killed in the Belgorod region after the car she was travelling in hit an “enemy mine”.
Anna Prokofyeva, aged 35, passed away during coverage of the conflict in the Demidovka border region in the Belgorod area, where Ukraine is said to be making advances.
Russian sources alleged that the top Russian TV war correspondent, who worked for Channel One, was killed in the conflict zone by Ukrainian mines.
Her cameraman, Dmitry Volkov, was severely wounded and is now understood to be recovering in a hospital.
Prokofyeva’s last online post was a selfie picture that showed her standing in front of a charred vehicle, wearing military fatigue.
She wrote in the captions: “Somewhere on the border with country 404,” which appeared to indicate her view that Ukraine does not exist.
Confirming her death, Russian Channel One said: “Channel One war correspondent Anna Prokofieva died in the line of duty.
“It happened in the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine, where the Channel One film crew was blown up by an enemy mine.
“Cameraman Dmitry Volkov, who was with Anna, was wounded….
“She had worked in the Spanish editorial office of the Rossiya Segodnya agency.
“She has been on Channel One since 2023, as a war correspondent, reporting from the [conflict] zone.”
In response to her tragic death, Maria Zakharova, the foreign ministry spokesperson for the Kremlin, blamed Ukraine for specifically aiming at Russian journalists.
Ms. Zakharova stated, “Reporters could be lost in great numbers due to a calamity. Presently, this tragedy is referred to as the ‘terrorist Kiev regime’.”
She added: “And the fact that they were wearing vests with ‘Press’ identification marks speaks once again to the fact that, of course, they have become a target.”
Prokofyeva is the third pro-war propagandist journalist to die in two days, with another seriously wounded.
A day earlier, two Russian war journalists from Vladimir Putin’s propaganda media were killed in occupied Ukraine. Their driver was also killed in the strike.
Alexander Fedorchak, 28, was killed when the car carrying Russian media figures was hit in occupied Luhansk.
He died alongside cameraman Andrei Panov of Russian defence ministry TV channel Zvezda and their driver, Alexander Sirkeli, 45.
A third journalist, Nikita Goldin, was seriously wounded when their car came under fire in the Luhansk region.
Russian state news agency TASS’s war correspondent Mikhail Skuratov was also wounded by shrapnel in a separate incident in the Kursk region, it was reported.
Russians alleged the journalists in the car were hit in “targeted artillery shelling by Kyiv”.
A source said: “The strike was carried out by high-precision MLRS munitions on a predetermined civilian vehicle with representatives of the press.”
They said that the Kyiv regime has once again “demonstrated its terrorist, bestial nature”.
Prokofyeva’s death came as Russia attacked Ukraine with drones in the Sumy region, bordering Belgorod and Kryvyi Rih city.
Meanwhile, reports of an offensive by Kyiv in the Belgorod region have emerged.
The region is some 25 miles from the Ukrainian border and is regularly used by Putin’s forces to launch attacks on Ukrainian territory.
These attacks frequently target the Ukrainian town of Kharkiv, which is also very close to the border.
Belgorod has been described as the second war front in Russia after Kursk due to the high amount of fighting and drone blitzes there.
There is no official confirmation that Ukrainian troops have crossed the border to launch a Kursk-like offence.
