A prominent Russian war correspondent who spread Vladimir Putin‘s propaganda from the frontline has been killed in a mine explosion near the border with Ukraine, according to reports.
Anna Prokofyeva, 35, died on assignment in the Demidovka border area of Belgorod region, where Ukraine has been making incursions, with her death reported by state TV’s Channel One where she worked.
Multiple major Russian media outlets shared news of her death and reported that cameraman Dmitry Volkov, who was working with her, had been wounded and was hospitalised.
Echoing Kremlin propaganda, Prokofyeva had last posted yesterday saying she was ‘somewhere on the border with country 404’ – indicating her warped view that Ukraine was a country that does not exist.
She is the third pro-war propagandist journalist to die in just two days, with another seriously wounded.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of targeting Russian state media journalists.
‘They are being hunted,’ she said. ‘These are our journalists, these are war correspondents… 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.’
Moscow has killed some 20 media workers since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to data provided by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Anna Prokofyeva, 35, died on assignment in the Demidovka border area of Belgorod region
The channel paid tribute to its staff member, who had been on Channel One since 2023 as a war correspondent
Prokofyeva is the third pro-war propagandist journalist to die in two days, with another seriously wounded
Announcing her death, Prokofyeva’s channel said: ‘Channel One war correspondent Anna Prokofyeva 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.’
The channel went on to pay tribute to its staff member, who had been on Channel One since 2023 as a war correspondent.
She was also fluent in Spanish and had worked in the Spanish editorial office of the Rossiya Segodnya agency, it said.
A day before her death two Russian war journalists from Vladimir Putin’s propaganda media were killed in occupied Ukraine.
A third was seriously wounded when their car came under fire in Luhansk region. Their driver was also killed in the strike.
Alexander Fedorchak, 28, Izvestia military correspondent, was killed when the car carrying Russian media figures was hit in occupied Luhansk.
Izvestia is controlled by pro-Kremlin National Media Group, headed by 72-year-old Putin’s lover Alina Kabaeva, 41, a former star rhythmic gymnast.
Fedorchak died alongside cameraman Andrei Panov, of Russian defence ministry TV channel Zvezda, and their driver Alexander Sirkeli, 45.
Zvezda war correspondent Nikita Goldin was seriously wounded.
Members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fire a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops in a front line, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine on March 23
Ukraine has been making incursions into the Russian region of Belgorod in recent weeks. Pictured: A Ukrainian strike on the region in September
Prokofyeva was a prominent war propagandist on Putin-backed Russian TV
A state news agency TASS war correspondent Mikhail Skuratov was wounded by shrapnel in a separate incident in Kursk region, it was reported.
Zakharova alleged the journalists in the car were hit in ‘targeted artillery shelling by Kyiv’.
‘The strike was carried out by high-precision MLRS munitions on a predetermined civilian vehicle with representatives of the press,’
She claimed that ‘the Kyiv regime has once again demonstrated its terrorist, bestial nature’.
Leading Putin TV propagandist Vladimir Solovyov said: ‘This morning, a Channel One film crew’s car hit a mine in the region.
‘As a result of the explosion, Anna Prokofyeva died, and her fellow cameraman was seriously injured.’
‘While carrying out an editorial assignment, Channel One war correspondent Anna Prokofyeva was killed,’ said Telegram War channel Romanov Light, run by military blogger Vladimir Romanov. ‘A brave, honest, and decent person. A professional.’
Her death came as Russia attacked Ukraine with drones in the Sumy region, bordering Belgorod and in Kryvyi Rih city, Zelensky’s hometown.
Her death came as Russia attacked Ukraine with drones in the Sumy region, bordering Belgorod and in Kryvyi Rih city, Zelensky’s hometown
The area came under the ‘most massive kamikaze drone attack since the beginning of the war’ on Tuesday night, the city administration head, Oleksandr Vilkul, wrote on Telegram.
Although no people were killed or injured, civilian infrastructure was widely targeted, Vikul said, including an administration building, warehouses, an industrial enterprise and a fire station. Multiple fires were sparked across the city, he said.
‘Everyone is alive, thank God. It’s truly a miracle. The destruction is significant,’ Vilkul said.
Civilian infrastructure also came under strike in the Sumy, Cherkasy, and Kirovohrad regions, local authorities said. There were no immediate reports on any injuries.
Overall, Russian forces launched 117 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, Ukraine’s air force said Wednesday morning, adding that 56 drones were destroyed and 48 more jammed by the defense forces.