RT-Engels: 03-04-2025,
War reporters face artillery fire, drone strikes, and targeted attacks – yet keep returning to the front. They explain to RT why.
On March 26, tragic news of the death of Anna Prokofieva, a war correspondent for Channel One, quickly spread through Russian and international media. The young journalist, known for her courageous reporting and exclusive frontline footage, died after stepping on a Ukrainian landmine in Russia’s Belgorod region. Shortly before her death, Izvestia reporter Aleksandr Fedorchak, Zvezda channel cameraman Andrey Panov, and driver Aleksandr Sirkeli were killed by a Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) artillery strike in the Lugansk People’s Republic. Several other journalists were wounded.
Every day, war correspondents knowingly put themselves in harm’s way to carry out their work. The risks are growing, but that hasn’t stopped them. In conversations with RT, military journalists spoke about what it’s like to work in the war zone – and why they continue taking these risks.
“She truly lived for her work”
The image of a smiling, striking young woman stands in stark contrast to the life of a war correspondent constantly reporting from Ukraine’s most dangerous hotspots. But Anna Prokofieva was someone who embodied that contradiction. Her death was widely reported across Russian and foreign outlets, and she will be remembered for her courage and her presence on some of the toughest frontlines.
“We always admired how she would choose the most dangerous parts of the front line,” said Dmitry Kulko,