Italian journalist Corrado Zunino, La Repubblica reporter in Ukraine, was injured in Kherson, and Bogdan Bitik, his Ukrainian fixer, was killed on Wednesday, April 26. It happened after both of them were ambushed, most likely by Russian snipers, according to the Italian daily. The Embassy of Italy in Kyiv and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are cooperating with the Ukrainian authorities to allow Zunino return to his country.
According to the source, Corrado was admitted to a civil hospital in Kherson with an injured shoulder. “We passed three checkpoints, Bogdan had a conversation with the Ukrainian military, and they let us pass without any trouble. It wasn’t a combat zone. Then we were attacked; I heard something hiss, and then I saw Bogdan lying on the ground, he wasn’t moving. I crawled back out of the firing line. I ran until I saw a civilian car passing by. I was covered in blood; I had to find someone to take me to the hospital in Kherson. I have four injuries, but I was treated perfectly. I tried to call Bogdan many times, but he didn’t answer. He was a great friend of mine, it’s an enormous suffering,” the journalist told his editorial office.
Antonio Tajani, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed his solidarity with Maurizio Molinari, La Repubblica Director, and stated that he was assured of the Ukrainian authorities’ cooperation in order to help Corrado Zunino return to Italy, according to the Apennine daily. In his turn, Dmytro Kuleba, his Ukrainian colleague, stated that it had been Russians who had been shooting. “They don’t care if you are Russian, Italian, or Ukrainian, all they do is just fire,” Kuleba added.
The ambush was located near the Kherson Bridge, according to La Repubblica; currently, it is difficult to recover Bitik’s body because of snipers present in the area.