Russia says strike that wounded TV crew in Lebanon not ‘accidental’

Russia on Thursday (March 19, 2026) condemned an airstrike that wounded a TV crew from state-run RT in Lebanon as not “accidental”, amid ongoing Israeli strikes and ground operations in the south of the country.

Video agency Ruptly — a subsidiary of RT — posted footage showing an explosion and plumes of smoke rising through the air metres behind RT’s reporter, who was wearing a bulletproof vest with a sign “Press” on it as he delivered an on-air report.

The reporter and a cameraman “were injured in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, while they were reporting,” Ruptly said on Telegram, adding both were “conscious and receiving medical attention”.

“Given the killing of 200 journalists in Gaza, today’s events cannot be called accidental,” the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Telegram, without naming Israel.

“The rocket hit not a ‘critical strategic military facility,’ but rather the location of a report,” Ms. Zakharova added.

The Russian embassy in Lebanon said that “attacks on media workers on editorial assignments are unacceptable” and called for an “appropriate investigation” into the incident.

Israeli strike on Litani River crossings

The Israeli military said it had in recent days “targeted Litani River crossings that Hezbollah used for both terrorist movement and to transfer thousands of weapons, including rockets and rocket launchers”.

“In footage released in the past few hours, a journalist is seen at the ‘Qasmiya’ crossing. An explicit warning had been issued regarding this area,” the IDF said in a statement.

“The crossing was struck after sufficient time had passed since warnings,” the IDF added.

A record 129 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2025, the Committee to Protect Journalists said last month, blaming Israel for two-thirds of the deaths.

The Israeli military regularly says it “has never and will never deliberately target journalists”.