Russia accuses Israel of 'deliberate and targeted' strike on TV crew in Lebanon
Russia on Thursday blamed Israel for what it called a "targeted" airstrike that wounded a TV crew from state-run RT in Lebanon amid ongoing Israeli strikes and ground operations in the country's south.
The Ruptly video agency, a subsidiary of RT, posted footage showing an explosion and plumes of smoke rising through the air meters behind RT's reporter, who was wearing a bulletproof vest with a "Press" sign on it as he delivered an on-air report.
The reporter and a cameraman "were injured in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, while they were reporting", Ruptly said on Telegram, adding both were "conscious and receiving medical attention".
"Given the killing of 200 journalists in Gaza, today's events cannot be called accidental," the Russian foreign ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.
In a statement on Thursday, she added that "the missile was fired by Israeli forces."
"The crew's clothing clearly read 'press' and they were carrying only cameras and microphones. The attack struck a site clear of military installations," she said.
"All these circumstances indicate that the attack on the journalists was deliberate and targeted," she said, accusing Israel of a "a gross violation of international law".
Russia's foreign ministry would soon summon Israel's ambassador to Moscow over the incident, Zakharova added.
The Russian embassy in Lebanon said that "attacks on media workers on editorial assignments are unacceptable" and called for an "appropriate investigation" into the incident.
The Israeli military said it had in recent days "targeted Litani River crossings that Hezbollah used for both terrorist movement and to transfer thousands of weapons, including rockets and rocket launchers".
"In footage released in the past few hours, a journalist is seen at the 'Qasmiya' crossing. An explicit warning had been issued regarding this area," the Israeli army said in a statement.
"The crossing was struck after sufficient time had passed since warnings," the Israeli army added.
A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists said last month, blaming Israel for two-thirds of the deaths.
The Israeli military regularly says it "has never and will never deliberately target journalists".
Source: Agence France Presse
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