Ukrainian journalist killed and Italian reporter injured in Kherson ambush

La Repubblica says Corrado Zunino and Bogdan Bitik were probably shot by Russian snipers

'La Repubblica' journalist Corrado Zunino. Photo: La Repubblica

A Ukrainian journalist working for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica was killed on Wednesday in an ambush in Kherson, the paper said.

Italian reporter Corrado Zunino was injured in the attack that killed journalist Bogdan Bitik, who was working as his guide and interpreter in the city in southern Ukraine, La Repubblica said.

The two men were ambushed “most likely by Russian snipers”, the paper said.

They were fired upon near a major bridge in the city after passing through Ukrainian checkpoints.

Russian forces left the western part of the city last year but regularly shell it from the eastern portion.

The office of Ukraine's prosecutor general confirmed a foreign reporter had been injured and a Ukrainian killed, but did not name them.

It said Russians shelled Kherson and the reporter was hit by a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

Zunino said in the article he had been injured in four places and was being treated in a Kherson hospital.

The newspaper published a photo of what it said was his bulletproof vest, with damage from a projectile clearly visible.

Russia's Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At least five journalists have died since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The conflict has killed thousands of fighters and civilians, uprooted millions and destroyed towns.

One person died and 23 others were wounded in the early hours of Thursday when Russian missiles hit an apartment block and houses in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, officials said.

"At night, Russia bombarded Mykolaiv with four Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the Telegram app.

"The high-precision weapons were aimed at private houses, a historic building, and a high-rise building. For now, we know about one dead and 23 wounded, including a child."

A video posted by Mr Zelenskyy showed badly damaged buildings with smashed windows and smoke rising above the roofs.

Regional governor Vitaliy Kim said the emergency services put out several fires caused by missile debris and that they were clearing the rubble.

Mykolaiv, a shipbuilding centre and port, had a population of about 470,000 people before the war. The city has suffered heavy Russian bombardments throughout the war.

Meanwhile, a blast on Thursday killed a police officer in the Moscow-controlled Ukrainian city of Melitopol, Russian authorities said, in the latest in a series of such attacks.

Melitopol, with a pre-war population of around 150,000 people, was captured in the early stages of Russia's invasion Ukraine and now lies about 65 kilometres behind the frontline further north.

"Today at about 5.15am there was an explosion at the entrance of an apartment building in Melitopol," the local branch of the Russian interior ministry said.

"Two policemen were injured and hospitalised. Subsequently, one of them died," it said.

The Ukrainian mayor of the city Ivan Fedorov, who is working from territory controlled by Kyiv, said the dead policeman was Oleksandr Mishchenko who had "not only defected to the side of the enemy, but also tricked his employees into becoming traitors".

Melitopol is in Zaporizhzhia, one of four regions — along with Donetsk, Lugansk, and Kherson — that Russia claimed to have annexed last year despite not having full military control over them.

– With reporting from agencies