Russian military correspondent dies after Ukrainian HIMARS attack

Nikita Goldin has succumbed to his injuries a month after a rocket strike that killed three other journalists

A Russian military correspondent who sustained serious injuries in a Ukrainian attack a month ago has died in the hospital. Nikita Goldin was injured in an incident that claimed the lives of two of his colleagues and their driver.

Goldin, who worked for the Defense Ministry TV channel Zvezda, suffered critical head injuries when a group of journalists traveling by car in the Lugansk People’s Republic was struck by a US-supplied HIMARS rocket system. On Thursday, Zvezda announced his death at a Moscow hospital.

Izvestia reporter Aleksandr Fedorchak, Zvezda cameraman Andrey Panov, and their driver, Aleksandr Sirkeli also died in the attack. TASS reporter Mikhail Skuratov was injured by shrapnel while covering events in Kursk Region in a separate assault that day.

Born in Pskov, Goldin was a promising taekwondo fighter before embarking on a military career. He started working for Zvezda in 2024.

Commenting last month on attacks against Russian reporters, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described them as evidence of the “terrorist, savage nature” of the Ukrainian government.

“The series of brutal reprisals against Russian journalists by Ukrainian neo-Nazis is yet another proof of their readiness to commit any crimes against the civilian population without hesitation, including media workers, who are protected under international humanitarian law,” she stated.

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Russian officials have accused international organizations purporting to protect journalists’ rights of ignoring the deaths of Russian media professionals in the Ukraine conflict, claiming it is for political reasons. According to Zakharova, Kiev enjoys impunity because these organizations “deliberately ignore its crimes.”