UPDATE - Egypt's Journalists Syndicate Calls For Probe Into Death Of RIA Novosti War Correspondent

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2023) Egypt's Journalists Syndicate has called for a transparent and unbiased probe into the death of RIA Novosti war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev, killed by Ukrainian shelling in the combat zone, the union's head, Khaled El-Balshy, said on Sunday.

"I call on the United Nations to conduct an investigation of this crime condemned by international law as well as other offences directed against journalists worldwide," El-Balshy said.

The syndicate's chief also said that the union condemned the murder of Zhuravlev, adding that the strikes on mass media workers were carried out "to prevent them from fulfilling their professional duties and reporting the truth from conflict zones."

A member of the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR), Ali Al Bayati, told Sputnik that Zhuravlev's death caused by the shelling of the Ukrainian forces violated the international law because the conflicting sides are required to ensure security of civilians and employees of, among others, mass media and healthcare sectors.

"International law obliges the conflicting parties to ensure the protection of civilians and workers of certain areas, such as healthcare, mass media, and any breach of this (regulation) is a violation of international law," Al Bayati told Sputnik.

Zhuravlev died during evacuation from injuries caused by a cluster submunition explosion in the conflict zone on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Several other Russian journalists, including RIA Novosti photojournalist Konstantin Mikhalchevsky and Izvestia journalist Roman Polshakov, received wounds of varying degrees of severity. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that those responsible for the death of Zhuravlev, including the suppliers of cluster munitions to Kiev, will be punished.