Reuters camera operator Ivan Lubysh-Kirdey, who was severely injured during a Russian strike on a hotel in Kramatorsk on Aug. 24, has regained consciousness and started speaking, according to his wife, Mariia Semenchenko.
Lubysh-Kirdey now recognizes everyone, can answer simple questions, and remembers many things, Semenchenko wrote on Facebook.
However, he still finds it difficult to speak due to a broken jaw and the medications he is taking.
Last week, Semenchenko mentioned that Lubysh-Kirdey had come out of a coma and was taken off the ventilator, but at that time, he had not yet fully regained consciousness.
Lubysh-Kirdey is an experienced camera operator who covered the EuroMaidan Revolution as well as the Battle of Ilovaisk in 2014, when Ukrainian soldiers who had been promised safe passage by Russian-backed proxies through a pre-agreed corridor came under attack.
The strike on the Safir (Sapphire) Hotel in Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast killed British national Ryan Evans, a security adviser for Reuters, and injured six others, including two local female residents.
As well as Lubysh-Kirdey, one other journalist for Reuters was among the injured. In a statement, Reuters said a six-person team had been staying at the hotel when it was hit.
The city of Kramatorsk is currently located around 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of the front line.
Kateryna Hodunova
