The EBU has expressed great regret at the death of Anatoly Klyan, a cameraman working in Ukraine for Russian Member Channel One.

The broadcaster announced 68-year-old Mr Klyan was fatally wounded when a bus carrying journalists and soldiers' mothers was hit by gunfire near a military base in Avdiivka, a village just north of the city of Donetsk.

Channel One said the trip was organized by rebel fighters in Eastern Ukraine.

The broadcaster reported that Anatoly Klyan continued to film inside the bus after he was shot in the stomach, stopping only when he grew weak and could not hold his camera anymore.

Other journalists then helped him to a nearby medical centre where he later died.

EBU Director General Ingrid Deltenre expressed sympathy on behalf of the organization.

"The safety of journalists is essential for the people to learn the truth," said Ms Deltenre.

"It is truly tragic when a journalist dies in the course of doing their job and whoever is responsible in such circumstances should be brought to justice," she added. "Reporting from a conflict area is incredibly dangerous but important work. We offer our deepest condolences to Mr Klyan’s family, his friends and colleagues at Channel One Russia."

Mr Klyan had been employed by Channel One in Russia for 40 years and had worked in dozens of crisis spots around the world including the former Yugoslavia, Iraq and Syria. 

Four other journalists have been killed in eastern Ukraine since the beginning of the year.

A correspondent and cameraman working for Russian network Rossiya were killed on 18 June near Luhansk. An Italian photographer and his Russian colleague died in a mortar attack near Slovyansk on 24 May.