A cameraman was rescued under the rubble after a missile destroyed a hotel
Ukraine shelled a hotel in the southern Russian-controlled city of Kherson where an RT news crew was staying early Sunday morning. A former Ukrainian politician and another person were killed in the attack.
The missile destroyed the rooms where RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev and cameraman Mikhail Kondakov slept. Both are unharmed.
Kondakov was buried under the rubble and was pulled out shortly after the strike.
“It’s like I’ve been electrocuted, I’m shaking,” Kondakov said after the rescue, surrounded by debris and pointing to a hole in the wall near where his bed was. “I was sleeping here, and it’s where the [missile] has struck. I don’t know how I survived.”
The hotel was heavily damaged, and the roof collapsed. Several vehicles parked outside were also destroyed, including a car used by RT, Gazdiev said. He added that, apart from the four-person RT team, three migration center workers and two hotel staff members were inside the building during the strike.
“The [Russian] military left this place yesterday. Maybe the strike was planned to hit them,” Gazdiev said, adding that everyone is afraid of a second strike.
Local emergency services said two people were killed. Senior Russian-appointed official Kirill Stremousov confirmed that Aleksey Zhuravko, a former member of Ukraine’s parliament, is one of the victims. Zhuravko had posted a video of himself voting for Kherson Region to join Russia in the ongoing referendum.