"We demand an appropriate response from [UNESCO Director-General] Audrey Azoulay to yet another brutal murder of a Russian war correspondent, as it falls under the responsibilities entrusted to her. We also expect a firm condemnation of this atrocity from all other human rights organizations and agencies," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Sunday.
Zakharova criticized the "absolute impunity" granted to Kiev, attributing it to the deliberate neglect of its crimes by international bodies such as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNESCO, and the OSCE.
"These international officials, who advocate for human rights, must hold the perpetrators of these killings accountable," she emphasized.
Zakharova also condemned the attack as part of a pattern of violence by the Zelensky regime. "The deliberate murder of Russian journalists is yet another brutal crime in a series of bloody atrocities by the Zelensky regime, which openly resorts to terrorist methods to eliminate its ideological opponents," she said.
She added, "There is no doubt that media representatives were deliberately targeted for this deadly attack. This is confirmed by the testimonies of survivors of the incident." Zakharova vowed that all those responsible for crimes against Russian journalists in Donetsk would be brought to justice.
On Saturday evening, Ukrainian forces launched an FPV drone attack on a civilian car on the Donetsk-Gorlovka highway. The attack killed Izvestia correspondent Alexander Martemyanov, while Sputnik correspondent Maxim Romanenko was hospitalized, and Mikhail Kvakhiev sustained minor injuries that did not require hospitalization. Two employees of the Donetsk-based publication *Bloknot* were also in the car at the time of the attack.