A correspondent and cameraman of the Kremlin-funded news network RT were injured in a missile strike while reporting in southern Lebanon on Thursday.
RT cameraman Ali Rida captured the moment correspondent Steve Sweeney ducked for cover as a loud explosion ripped behind him. They were both injured by shrapnel from the blast and were receiving medical aid at a local hospital, according to the broadcaster.
It said the crew was filming near Al-Qasmiya Bridge, “not far from a local military base” in southern Lebanon, when it was attacked.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that the military previously struck the bridge over Lebanon’s Litani River, claiming it was used by the Iran-aligned Hezbollah group to smuggle weapons to the south.
According to RT, Rida accused the Israeli forces of “deliberately” attacking them near the bridge despite them wearing vests marked “PRESS.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed the strike was “not accidental.”
“The missile did not hit an ‘important strategic military target,’ but the location of the report,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram.
She said Russia expected a response to the incident from “international organizations.”
Hezbollah said Thursday that its fighters were battling Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, as a military source on the ground told AFP that Israeli troops were slowly advancing while “systematically destroying” border towns.
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