17.04.2017, Syria.
The Abkhazian ANNA-News agency’s war correspondents Igor Dimitriev and Oleg Blokhin came under fire yesterday, April 16, near the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, agency’s own website reported.
Journalists came under fire from ISIL (organization banned in Russia) militants while boarding a helicopter. Shrapnel seriously wounded Igor Dimitriev; both legs and his abdomen were hit. Igor Blokhin was wounded in the right arm. A second shell fragment was stopped by video camera battery, which was in his chest pocket. The militants’ attack was caught on by video.
The wounded journalists were evacuated to the Syrian city of Qamishli. As the agency reported, “they say, they are fine.”
ISIL (organization banned in Russia) has been attacking Deir ez-Zor since mid January 2017. The city is of strategic importance; there are large oil fields and a military airfield close to it. The airfield serves as the base for the Syrian Air Force’s 8th Squadron, which flies MiG-21s.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
