Two Danish journalists shot and injured, now evacuated

Credits: Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP

PR, IFJ, Brussels 3 March 2022 - On 26 February, Danish reporter Stefan Weichert and photographer Emil Filtenborg Mikkelsen were shot by unidentified attackers when they were on their way to a shelled kindergarten in the town of Ohtyrka, north-east of Ukraine. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) stresses once again the importance of guaranteeing the safety of reporters covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the ground.

The two journalists, who were covering the war in Ukraine for the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladetde, were deliberately shot by attackers when they were driving to cover the shelling of a kindergarten. After the shooting, they stemmed the flow of blood from their wounds and waited in their car for emergency services to take them to hospital.

They were wounded despite wearing bullet-proof vests. The have already been evacuated from Ukrainian territory and are on their way to their home country, the IFJ affiliated Danish Union of Journalists confirmed.

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: "As the scale and brutality of the Russian war in Ukraine grows, it is becoming increasingly dangerous for journalists to cover the conflict safely. We call on the international community and Unesco to do everything possible to secure the safety of journalists working on the ground."