Russian cameraman killed in Ukraine’s Donetsk

A cameraman for Russia’s state television has been shot dead by Ukrainian forces in Ukraine’s eastern city of Donetsk, says the broadcaster’s press service.

Anatoly Klyan, a cameraman for Russia’s Channel One, was killed on Monday while on a reporting trip with a group of Russian journalists in the eastern Ukrainian city.

In addition, the driver of the vehicle transporting the journalists was reportedly injured in the neck and taken to hospital for treatment.

The Russian channel stressed that Klyan was killed despite an ongoing ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia forces in Ukraine’s eastern regions.

Following the fatal shooting, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a statement, saying, “Ukrainian forces clearly do not want a de-escalation of the conflict in the country’s east and are obstructing the already fragile truce.”

Klyan’s death brings to six the number of journalists killed in Ukraine this year, according to Reporters Without Borders. On June 17, two members of a Russian television crew were killed in Ukraine’s troubled eastern regions.

Clashes between Ukrainian army and local self-defense forces have continued in eastern regions, despite an ongoing ceasefire that was declared by Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko on June 20. The truce is due to end at 22:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Monday.

The head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, Valery Bolotov, has accused the Ukrainian military of breaching the truce.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking parts in the east have been the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protester and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in mid-April in a bid to crush the pro-Russia protests.