(Reuters) – A reporter for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica was injured and his Ukrainian fixer died on Wednesday when they were ambushed in southern Ukraine, most likely by Russian snipers, the paper said in an article on its website.

La Repubblica said correspondent Corrado Zunino and fixer Bogdan Bitik were fired on near a major bridge in the southern city of Kherson after passing through a series of Ukrainian checkpoints. Russian forces left the western part of the city last year but regularly shell it from the eastern portion.

La Repubblica said the two men had been ambushed, “most likely by Russian snipers”.

Separately, the office of Ukraine’s prosecutor-general said a foreign reporter had been injured and a Ukrainian civilian died but did not name them. It said Russians shelled Kherson, and the reporter received a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

Zunino said in the article he had been injured in four places and was being treated in a Kherson hospital. The newspaper published a photo of what it said was his bullet proof vest, with damage from a projectile clearly visible.

Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At least five journalists have died since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Photo: A car drives past a destroyed bridge, outside Kherson, southern Ukraine. EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY