From the start of the full-scale invasion until March 15, 2025, Russia attacked Ukrainian hotels at least 31 times. This resulted in the injury of 25 journalists and other media workers, and the death of Reuters media specialist Ryan Evans.
This is stated in a study by Truth Hounds and the organization Reporters Without Borders.
If in 2022 eight Russian attacks on hotels were recorded, then in 2023 they became more frequent at the end of the year — four out of five attacks occurred after August. In 2024, this trend intensified even more: out of 14 documented attacks, 11 were from August. At the beginning of 2025, in just two months, four more similar incidents were recorded. That is, these are not isolated cases, but a stable practice. In total, 25 Ukrainian hotels were attacked.
The hotels attacked were usually occupied by media representatives, humanitarian organizations, officials on business trips, and internally displaced persons. Although in some cases, military personnel may have stayed in the hotels, their presence was limited and not systematic.
Russia typically strikes hotels at night, using cruise and ballistic missiles from Iskander systems. The targets of the attacks are predominantly Ukrainian cities in areas of active fighting. Under international humanitarian law, hotels are not legitimate military targets.
On August 28, 2024, Russia struck the Aurora Hotel in Kryvyi Rih, killing at least four people.
Telegram / Сергій Лисак
The intensity of hotel attacks increased sharply in August-October 2024, with Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region becoming a key target. Over the course of several months, Russia attacked at least five hotels in the city. This tactic continued into early 2025, with at least three more strikes recorded in February and March.
The hotel attacks are clearly part of a broader Russian strategy to intimidate journalists in order to suppress coverage of its war crimes in Ukraine. To justify these strikes, Russia spreads fake news about the alleged presence of “foreign mercenaries” in the affected areas. The authors of the study note that the Russian Ministry of Defense actively uses — and in some cases initiates — this narrative, deliberately blurring the line between journalists and combatants.
During the same period, the Ukrainian army also struck hotels in Russian-occupied territories. Researchers documented eight such incidents, with hotels in Russian-occupied territories being shelled with artillery and rockets. Since there is evidence that these hotels were used for military purposes, they constitute legitimate military targets under international humanitarian law.
One of the most famous incidents occurred on July 11, 2023, when a missile strike hit the Duna Hotel in the city of Berdyansk (Zaporizhzhia region). Russian officer, deputy commander of Russiaʼs Southern Military District Oleh Tsokov was killed. According to available information, the hotel was attacked with a Storm Shadow missile.
Journalists with experience covering wars in other countries said the danger in Ukraine is particularly acute. The widespread use of drones and ballistic missiles has changed the nature of frontline reporting, making movement highly unpredictable and risk assessment difficult.
Overall, the survey results indicate that there is a growing perception among Ukrainian and foreign journalists that hotels near the front line are becoming dangerous.
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